Wayne & Kyle: Promicide Detectives
by JazzBatCat
Summary: Anders Preparatory Academy has reopened in time for the Senior Prom. Bruce and Selina have a nice time, until people start getting murdered one by one. Racing against a killer-who they're trapped in the school with-they do everything they can to save everyone else & each other. Canon. After main events of 5x11. TRIGGER: Violence from Ch. 4 on. & Ch. 23 deals with violence/suicide.
1. Prologue - The Ask

**Wayne & Kyle: Promicide Detectives**

**Note:** Hi All! My first story here. Finished the show, but I've had this idea in my head for a while now. The story is 100% canon to the show-except for the fact that Tabby's not dead in my story. Imho, it added nothing to the story and I just needed her for a bit, so I figured I'd revive her for this one. (Maybe she was placed in a Lazarus pit. :)

It takes place about a month and a half after the primary events in 5x11, but before _that_ ending.

I hope you all enjoy!

(P.S. Just in case anyone likes visuals like I do, the site for Selina's prom dress is promdressesshop dot com/87474773 though hers in the story is quite a bit shorter, backless and has layers of white tulle underneath its skirt.)

**All reviews and follows, questions etc. welcomed of course!**

_JazzBatCat_

**Prologue: The Ask**

Him:

Waiting.

Feels like I spend half of my life waiting.

Waiting for them.

Waiting for someone to try and harm me or my loved ones.

Waiting for…

…Her.

Her:

Idiots didn't even have the sense to run. Those are the worst ones. If you see me stealing your shit, getting ready to kick your ass, at _least_ have the sense to run.

"It's only $10,000." I hear Tabitha murmuring as she finishes the count, putting the last stack back into the bag on the bar-top. Sounding disappointed like it's not enough. With her and Barbara it usually isn't.

"Whatever." Barbara says snatching the bag from Tabitha "That was the last job. I told you: we go straight from here on out. The rest of my nest egg is tied up in investments until all the real estate starts going up again. This'll do for now. We have enough to hire some new waitresses and this will cover the costs of the club until we start making a profit again."

Forget that. I didn't kick some gang ass to cover club costs.

"Um," I say, walking over to the bar and holding out my hand, "How about you give me my cut, so I can hightail it outta here?"

"Are you _deaf,_ Selina? I _just_ said we need this money to cover club costs."

I try to steady my breathing and not jump across the counter. No matter how many times I prove myself, even after all these years, even though we're so-called "partners", Barbara still treats me like her little errand girl.

Well, enough's enough.

"I didn't just risk my ass, so you could cover club costs, Barbara." I say, my hand sliding to my whip. "Now give me my share or I'll _take_ it." I'm not in the mood for this bullshit. I just want my cut so I can get some food. Maybe get a new shirt or something.

Barbara has that glint in her eye that she gets when she's about to kill someone and I feel the hairs on my neck quivering.

I tilt my head to the side and smirk. She must be crazy if she thinks she can get to her guns before I can wrap this whip around her neck.

_Try it, Bitch._

"Enough!" Tabitha says sliding in between us. "Cool it, alright? We can't turn on each other. Not at a time like this."

"I'm not turning on anyone," I say and then hiss through gritted teeth "But I _want_ my _cut!_" I am not backing down on this. Not this time.

Tabitha sneers at me in annoyance, but she reaches around Barbara and snatches a stack of bills from the bag.

Barbara starts to protest "Wait a-"

"Shut it, alright?!" Tabitha snaps, "Fair is fair. She does do at least 33% of the work around here."

"Try 50%." I say, and Tabitha gives me a death stare. Not sure why. We both know it's true. Barbara mostly sets things up, but Tabitha and I are the foot-soldiers.

"Here!" Tabitha says and tosses the stack at me.

I can tell it's probably less than $3000 but I don't protest. "Thank you." I say with a smirk, shoving the bills in my inside jacket pocket. I turn to head out for the night and hear Barbara grumbling about how I'm a brat.

I don't give a damn.

I gotta eat too.

_And so do they._

Him:

I'm not really sure of the best way to go about this.

We don't really _do_ these kinds of things. Go places that normal teenagers go. We're pretty far away from normal at this point.

And based on what I'm planning to do after…what I _have_ to do, I am practically forcing myself to even do this at all.

I put it out of my mind and glance around the darkness of the rooftop. The sky is littered with stars. No wonder she goes this way every night. It's almost mystical. And she loves stars. She won't say it out loud, but I've seen it in her eyes. She looks at them like they have magical powers.

I do a brief survey of my surroundings and I can tell that this building is likely to be condemned. Marked for demolition within the coming months. I'll have to get someone at Wayne Enterprises to take care of it. Maybe purchase the building and have the support beams reinforced. Of course, I won't tell her. But this is her favorite rooftop. No matter where else she stays, on her walk home she always makes sure that she passes over this rooftop.

This building is too old, too weak to still be standing. It definitely should have fallen to the ground by now, but it hasn't.

Much like Gotham and its people.

Much like us.

Her:

The night is quieter than it should be, but it's nice the quiet.

"SELINA!" the little girl screams as she flings herself at my legs. I reach down and ruffle her hair. A curly redhead called Lili.

"Hi Lili." I say, as I stumble over her with a smile.

"You staying to play with us?!" Lili yells and I turn to see over a dozen other tiny eyes peering up at me. They are surrounded by trashcans and cardboard boxes. If the sight wasn't so familiar, I might mist up. Instead, I just give a regretful smile.

"Not tonight." Their sighs ring out in what I guess is an attempt to make me feel guilty, but I can't really. In fact, I don't feel guilt about much these days.

"Where's Momma?" I ask and they all point their small fingers towards the giant dumpster on the side of the building.

I shake my head.

Momma usually conducts her…business over there. Hopefully she's alone. Not really looking to get my claws bloodied anymore tonight.

"Momma Joy?" I call as I am coming up on the dumpster, just in case. Luckily, she steps out from the darkness in her bathrobe, which she always wears over her work "uniform" before she puts the kids to bed. It's the signal that she's done "working" for the night.

"Hey, Cat. What's going on tonight?" Momma Joy says in her slow, country accent and I see she's clutching about $50 in ten-dollar bills. I quickly look away from the money and up into her face. She's makeup free. Good. That's the other signal that things are all-clear for the evening.

"Nothing much. Hit up a gang earlier and got a little something for you and the kids." I say, and I don't mean to, but I see my hand peel off a thousand and I hand it over to her.

Momma Joy's eyes go wide and then they tear up.

"This is more than you've given me in months."

"I know. I'm sorry I haven't been around." I say and give her a smile. "Make sure you get the kids something sweet and tell 'em it's from me."

"I will." Momma Joy says wiping her eyes. "Thank you, Selina."

I turn to walk away but turn back around. She's all they've got, these kids. Most of 'em are turnouts from that orphanage or kids whose parents died while they were homeless on the street. She's been taking care of 'em for years.

I pull out another thousand and walk over to Momma Joy pressing it into her hands.

"S-Selina…" she stammers, "I can't accept this."

"You can. Take it and go to the Haven Motel. Take the kids with you and rent some rooms. Make it last. And when you've been clean for a week, come to Sirens and get a job waitressing. You can make some money for you and the kids."

I reach for the crumpled up ten-dollar bills and take them from her.

"_Clean_ money."

Him:

I wobble a little on the roof's ledge, but I can sense the ground beneath before my foot lands there. This is harder than I thought with my eyes closed, but its good practice.

'_For what?'_ I hear her voice in my head and as usual, even in my mind, I don't really have an answer.

I can hear everything. Sirens, car alarms, even the errant night owl. I start a count in my head as I walk. One step, two steps, car alarm. One step, siren. One step, car alarm, owl. One step, siren. One step, two steps, car alarm, owl. One ste-…

I place my foot out ahead of me, but I don't sense anything beneath it. Keeping my core steady, I open my eyes and see that I am right at the edge of the roof about to step off. I take a quick step back and almost lose my footing but manage to jump down onto the rooftop again.

My breathing quickens as I realize I almost lost my life. All because of a stupid mistake. Something I missed. I close my eyes and listen for a moment. The sirens are out of range, now. I was counting it as a part of the pattern, not because I actually heard them.

I should have noticed.

I think of her. Try to imagine what she would say if she came here and found my dead body on the ground below.

She'd probably try and beat me back to life for being so stupid.

I lean down and sit with my back against the ledge and face the ladder, to wait.

It's been hours, but I know she'll come.

She always does.

Her:

I almost wish someone would try something. I want to hit something. Pound someone.

My thoughts are…darker, since taking that seed. I don't know why.

I feel different a lot of times and especially at night. Invincible almost…

…But I also feel scared.

Small and lonely and reckless.

And I can see crystal-clear in the dark now. Like I'm wearing permanent night-vision goggles. That's something that I've only ever told him.

_Him._

Haven't seen him in weeks. Are we still together? Are we not?

_Why do I care?_

That's another thing. It's like every single part of me is heightened. Even my emotions.

It's enough to drive a girl crazy.

The ladder is already down.

_Did I leave it down…?_

I can't remember.

I make my way up quickly.

As I step onto the rooftop, I am immediately taken in by the stars and stare up at them with a smile. I love stars. That's maybe the one thing I've ever really loved about being a street kid. Stars are the one thing that never leave. Even when you're hungry and cold or wet and exhausted. Stars are always there. It's like they're saying, 'We'll still be here tomorrow and so will you.'

And then there's her. My mom. The last time I saw her…before I knew...we came up on this very roof and looked at the stars together. Talked about how we'd go around the world and look at these same stars from everywhere.

Even Italy.

I've always wanted to go to Italy.

By the time I smell the cologne it's too late. The guy is almost right on me.

I whip around and put my claws to his neck. Thankfully, with my new-super eyesight, I can see his face, clear as day.

"_Bruce_?!"

Him:

I try to steady my breathing. Not like it's the first time Selina's had me at her mercy, but I thought something was wrong. She was just standing there for minutes looking up at the sky. She hasn't been the same since taking that seed and I feel responsible. Had to make sure she was okay.

Selina loosens her grip on me and moves her claws from my neck but is still holding onto my collar.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?! I told you before not to change your cologne without telling me. I could have _killed_ you!"

"Could have but didn't." I say and try to give a wry smile. Act like I wasn't scared senseless that she was hurt in some way.

"Ha, ha." Selina says and shoves me lightly before huffing at me. "What are you doing here, Bruce?"

"I just came here to see you."

"That part, I got. I'm not an idiot."

"I wasn't implying that you were. It's just that I haven't seen you in a few weeks. I wanted to make sure that you didn't think I was here because I needed something."

There's a flicker of something gentle in her eyes, before they go steely again.

"At least you've realized it's a recurring theme." Selina says and then pats my cheek saying "Well, you've seen me, Bruce. I'm fine."

She tries to step past me, but I grab her arm. "Selina, wait. That's not all."

I can feel the sigh as she heaves her shoulders. It's interesting how she still tries so hard to act as though I annoy her. Even after all these years when I clearly know better. We never say it, but really, we both know better.

We stand in the silence for a few moments and Selina eases back and looks up into my eyes again. This time the softness lingers. "What is it, Bruce?" she asks gently.

Before I can ask my intended question, another one is seeping out. "Are you okay, Selina…? You seem-"

"I'm fine, Bruce." Selina says, pulling her arm away from me. "Though I would be better if my boyfr-" she catches herself and glares at me daring me to smirk, which I do everything in my power not to do. "If my _friend_ wasn't keeping me up way past sleepy time because he can't help but speak in "cryptic"."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." I say, and I turn to walk over to the pen that used to hold Selina's friend Bridgit's birds, but now houses other rodents that I hope stay put. I reach down and pick up the box then turn back towards Selina and hold it behind my back.

"_Promposal?" I repeated, and my school friend Tommy Elliot laughed at me. I guess I looked as confused as I felt._

"_Yeah, Bruce. It's like "prom" and "proposal"." I still felt unsure, but Tommy slapped my shoulder reassuringly. "Look. Don't over-complicate it. Just think of what you'd do if you wanted to propose to her and do that."_

Well, here goes…

Her:

Bruce is walking slow as a zombie, breathing so deeply that I can hear the breaths from here even as he reaches down into the bird-pen.

I find myself tapping my foot impatiently.

God, I wish he would just get to the point. I mean, sure, I love him. But I swear, the guy could make a roller coaster feel like the first stop on a lecture series.

Bruce walks back towards me holding something behind his back.

I cross my arms and smile, "What is it? A present?"

"Not exactly…" Bruce says hesitantly and then, as usual, he goes into a speech and I fight not to roll my eyes. "Things are just getting back to normal…well, as normal as things ever are in Gotham. And some of the other kids at my old school invited me to it. I know it's not really your kind of thing…Not exactly mine either, but I wouldn't want to go without you or with anyone else." And then he does the weirdest thing.

He gets down on one knee.

This trench coat-wearing, stone-faced, billionaire asshole gets down on one knee and holds out a golden box with a bow and a white rose corsage on top. I look down at the box and then up at him. His eyes glisten like black diamonds in the moonlight.

"Will you do me the honor of being my prom date?"

I want to smack him. Talk about how dumb it is. Talk about why in the hell a bunch of spoiled rich brats think a month after the reunification started, the best thing to do is get together and have a high school prom.

But instead, all that comes out is:

"Of course, I will."


	2. Chapter 1 - Presenting

**1\. Presenting…**

Her:

I wish I was immune to this dumb shit.

But, I'm not.

It's only been a little over a month since the reunification started, but already, this preppy school is almost completely back to normal. "Normal" meaning bigger, glitzier and taller than anything the poor side of town will ever see in its lifetime.

Times like this, I want to hate him. But, I still can't. Unlike the rest of those privileged assholes, he has a brain. And a heart...

...And eyes that make me want to melt sometimes when he looks at me. Just like I know they will when he comes to pick me up.

I spread my hands over the skirt of the dress. It's so pretty.

Tabitha is my partner-in-crime, really. But Barbara is the one to go to for things like this.

When I came to Barbara and asked her for help picking out a prom dress, her eyes couldn't have rolled further into the back of her head. But, after I flashed Bruce's black card, she about drug me out of the club.

Of course, Barbara spent some money. Said to tell Bruce it was a finder's fee. But looking down at my dress, I think it was worth it.

The dress is a black halter, backless. And the bottom is white taffeta with the same black lace trailing the bottom. Beneath the skirt are layers of white tulle. The fact that I even know what taffeta and tulle are kinda sickens me a little. But Barbara and Tabitha took it upon themselves to train me on that sort of thing so that I'd be able to mingle in with any crowd.

_Guess that'll come in handy tonight._

"Nervous?" I hear and glance up in the limo's rear-view mirror, meeting Alfred's eyes. Our relationship has always been love/hate, but it's been way better ever since I helped Bruce rescue him from Scarecrow and Jeremiah's clutches a year or so ago.

"Not "nervous" really." I lie. "Just annoyed. He's late. Where is he anyway? What kind of a guy asks a girl to the prom and then leaves her waiting in front of the building with his butler?"

The look of annoyance crosses his face just as I smile at the end of my comment. Alfred is _way_ more than Bruce's "butler". He's his family. Hell, he's almost my family at this point. But I still like to tease him whenever I can. As good old Alfie would say: "The little things, and all that."

"The kind who likes to make a grand entrance." Alfred says with a sympathetic smile. "He had some things to take care of. Lucius wanted to review the final plans for the rebuilding of Wayne Enterprises. Details and all that."

I nod my head and glance out the window. There's a red carpet leading all the way up the school's gymnasium entrance. A bunch of stick-figure girls are slinking into the school wearing thousands of dollars in jewels. I spot a giant sapphire that I could swipe easy to get a car in that very same color.

"He really cares about you, you know?" I hear Alfred saying in what seems a nearly pained voice. I glance back in the rear-view mirror to see his eyes, but he quickly looks away. The pained tone isn't that surprising. Alfred's still healing from when Bane broke his back but he only has a few more weeks in that cast, Bruce told me.

…But he'll be using that cane for probably the rest of his life. It kinda makes me wonder why Bruce would even have him drive me here tonight.

_And why the hell would he agree to it…?_

"I know." I say firmly. I do. Bruce is the one guy I've ever met who doesn't ask me for anything. Just me.

Well, me and my help with the odd rescue mission here and there.

"Even if he doesn't say it…even if he doesn't always show it..." Alfred says and I look up at him again. This time he's looking back at me. His eyes almost pleading for me to understand.

"Hey, I get it alright?" I say, fiddling with the rose on my wrist. "It's square with Bruce and me. We know where we stand."

Alfred nods and a look of relief crosses his brow. "That's good to hear."

I trace the rose's petals with my fingertips and remember Bruce on his knee, presenting it. This and that golden box of chocolates that I ate for dinner that night.

_It's good to know, _I think.

Him:

I tried to get out of the meeting early, but Lucius Fox would not stop regaling me with his ideas. It's good to have him back working for Wayne Enterprises, but his creative cup never stops running over.

Stealth fabrics for the military.

Night-vision glasses that cause the night to appear as clearly as the day.

And he's ecstatic about some new transformative vehicles he's designing.

"Of course, this is just the pre-design phase. But this is next-level stuff, Bruce. I'm talking, planes that convert to submarines. Jet skis that convert into motorcycles."

We are in the small office of the building that is serving as the makeshift Wayne Headquarters before the rebuild starts next week.

I shake my head at Lucius, laughing. "Whatever you say, Lucius. I told you, I have to go."

Lucius scoffs at me, reproachfully. "Sometimes, I feel like you don't fully believe in my visions, Bruce. Conversion technology is the _future _of stealth maneuvering. This would change the face of the army as we know it. Soldiers would be able to seamlessly move from land to sea in mere seconds!"

I squint at him as I snap on the sterling silver cuff-links that Alfred gave me. "That does sound promising." I shrug into my tuxedo jacket, thankful that Alfred got it dry-cleaned and pressed. It's a bit heavier because of the special lining that Lucius took care of for me. But I think it's necessary.

_Can't be too careful._

"But if you're talking about providing this technology to the army. That's hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Wouldn't that be…_costly_…? To say the least."

Lucius's eyes dim a little as though he knows exactly how much each vehicle will cost but hadn't fully considered the monies needed to supply the entire US military.

Or, Hell. Even just the Gotham Military. It would be millions of dollars here. Billions to expand nationally.

"Once again you've expressed an obvious concern that I wasn't even considering." Lucius says and rolls up the plans that he was showing me. He gives a dry chuckle. "I guess I let the excitement of the potential get ahead of the reality of the practicality again."

"No worries, Lucius." I say and give him a light shoulder pat.

And as I turn to leave I add, "I'm sure we'll find a good use for your conversion technology one day."

(20 minutes later)

Selina hates when I make her wait with Alfred. She still likes to pretend he annoys her too.

I speed through the back streets that are mostly unmanned. Though they are technically off-limits still, I know my way around back here since I spent so much time surveying the grounds just before the reunification process began.

16 potholes in total on this street alone. I shift the gear a little so that the tires can handle any rough terrain that they may come across and then use voice-driving mode to finish getting ready.

I reach into the back seat and pull out the cologne. StarDusk. It was my dad's signature scent and my mom always said it was her favorite smell in the world.

"Sharp left turn." I hiss as the fifth pothole comes into view. The wheel turns automatically and I am almost thrown across the car from the speed and force. "Seat-belt." I say, and the seat-belt extends and straps me in as I shake my head. Another silly mistake that could have cost me dearly. I must remember to deal with the basics first.

"Straight again. Slow down to 40 mph." Alfred hates the hi-tech upgrades that Lucius added, but I love them. They make things so much easier.

I glance in the rear-view mirror and check my hair. I hate that I am one of those guys now, but I prefer to add a bit of gel. My cowlick can still make me look like a little kid. I squirt just a little and then roughly tousle my hair.

I think about Selina and wonder what her dress will look like.

I just know no matter what she chose, she'll look amazing.

She always does.

I almost get lost in the thought before my eyes instinctively train back on the road just in time to see the barricade that someone must have knocked into the street.

"Sharp right!" I yell and the car jerks to the right, although the barricade roughly nicks the car.

_Damnit!_

Alfred's not going to like that.

I pull up to the side of the school's gymnasium and step out. The lot is nearly full. It's astounding how quickly the evacuees came back to Gotham. I guess no matter how crime-ridden it is, a home is a home.

I walk toward the front of the gym and just as I requested, I see the limo that contains Selina and Alfred directly in the front.

Before I can pull her door, Alfred is lumbering up beside me. "There, there, Master Bruce." He says batting away my hand. "If you're to give a lady a proper night out, let's give her the full treatment, shall we?" I smile at him and nod, taking a step back. No matter how many near-death experiences we go through, Alfred will always find a way to insert some old-world, English charm.

I do a brief scan, surveying the area, as Alfred opens the door. We're in the clear.

I glance down at my cuff-links just once more to make sure that they're secured. When I look up, Selina is standing in front of me and my breath catches.

Her makeup is minimal, as usual, but her eyes are shadowed and lined in black. Her curls tumble around her shoulders, pulled back with a white cotton lace tie. Her black leather clutch has a tiny black jewel on its clasp. Her dress has a black lace top that traipses down the front and has tiny floral cut outs. Around her waist is a flattened leather belt, with a tiny jewel in its center just like the one on her purse. Beneath that is a white skirt, trimmed with the same black lace, under which is a layer of white tulle. The skirt is shorter above her knees in the front and nearly reaches her calves in the back. Under the dress, she wears short black leggings.

In a word, she's spectacular.

"Selina…you…you look…"

"Like I've been waiting on my date for 30 minutes." Selina tries to huff, but the shy smile captures her face as she steps nearer to me and I glance down. I hadn't even noticed the white-tipped black heels.

She tries to walk past me, but I catch her by the waist and survey her again. Not this time. I won't let her brush past this moment.

"No, Selina." I say, and I hold my eyes on her face until she finally looks up at me.

"You look _breathtaking_." I say and my hand travels around her back as I pull her closer to me. "I'm truly grateful to be walking in tonight with you on my arm."

Her cheeks blush and for once, she has no response.

Together, we walk up the red carpeted stairs and then I turn for a quick wave at Alfred, who smiles and makes his way back towards the limo.

A bit daunting is the metal detector, but it's fine as my jacket has metal buttons and Selina's black leather purse has a metal clasp (just as I suggested). The guard checks our belongings but, finding nothing, hands them back to us on the other side and we walk up to the doors together.

Upon walking inside, a man standing by the entrance turns to me and says, "Your name, sir?"

I gaze over at Selina, who seems to be particularly tickled at the idea of someone not knowing who I am.

She looks so pretty when she laughs.

"I'm Bruce Wayne and this is Selina Kyle."

The man gives a quick nod and then turns toward the floor. Holding up a mic, he calls out:

"Presenting…Mr. Wayne and Ms. Kyle!"


	3. Chapter 2 - Princes of Gotham

**2\. Princes of Gotham**

Her:

I kind of wish I _could_ get lost in the music.

The tiny blue bulbs are scattered across the ceiling like stars. They twirl and sparkle across everyone's skin like mini spotlights.

There are like two hundred kids in here, a guard in every corner and a long table to the far left filled with hors d'oeuvres and other hoity-toity snacks. Then there's a photo booth near the front entrance that fits like 4 kids. In front of the photo booth is a giant, fountain-shaped ice sculpture, that stands just to the left of the dance floor and shimmers like crazy even in the low lighting.

The theme of the night is "Elegance". Just "Elegance". Leave it to a bunch of rich kids to have no imagination. Supposedly the biggest night of their high school lives. And the best they could come up with is elegance.

Whoop Dee Damn Doo.

But it doesn't change the fact that it's beautiful. Every inch of the room seems to glitter, pretty kids glide around the floor in gowns, tuxes and jewels.

The gymnasium is bigger than any that I've ever seen. It looks more like a grand ballroom, with the door we entered into being straight across from another that Bruce says leads to the locker-lined hallway.

Everything is epic.

Everything...except for the music. It's like Emo and rock got together and had a whiny, syrupy kid.

But Bruce just keeps looking at me.

We've danced before. A few of his rich kid balls. But never like this.

His hand is on my back. My _actual_ back since the dress is backless. The fingers of his right hand are interlaced with my left.

I can feel his heartbeat. That's how close we are. It's like we're breathing together.

…And Bruce won't stop looking at me.

Him:

I try to remember what my hands feel like when I'm not holding her. But all I can think about is how empty. It will feel like an actual sacrifice to let her go.

I can barely even hear the atrocious music, because I am too busy just studying her face. Feels like I'm making a memory.

Selina under these sparkling blue lights. This dress. Her hair. Her green eyes. This. This is where I belong. I know that now. Maybe I've always known.

We haven't spoken. It's been about 30 minutes and we haven't said a single word. Just holding onto each other and gliding. I can feel her heartbeat.

It's like we're breathing together.

Selina leans her head on my shoulder and I can feel her arms tightening around me.

I lean into her and smile. Something moves me to kiss the top of her head and I do. I feel her stiffen for just a moment and then she nestles in again. And I feel her heartbeat quicken.

Just like mine.

Her:

"So, you know all of these kids?" I say as we make our way towards the punch bowl.

"Not all of them. But I have a general idea about who many of them are." Bruce says, as yet another kid pats him on the back.

Our hands are still linked awkwardly from the dance and I see a young teen with blonde pigtails staring at us. The girl's regarding us quizzically, wide-eyed and giddy. Then she stares down at our linked hands.

I shrink away from her glare, gently slipping my hand from Bruce's. Before it can drop, Bruce grips it up and links my arm through his elbow instead.

"Well, I think they all know _you_." I say with a nod towards a large group of girls gaping at us. "They're kinda drooling."

"They're probably just thirsty." Bruce says with an oblivious shake of his head.

"Yeah. "Thirsty" is one way to put it."

"Cherry or lemonade?" I hear and look over and see a kid I recognize. Seen him on TV a few times.

"Hey AJ." Bruce says genially, and I side glance at him.

"Hi Bruce," AJ-or Aubrey Jr.-the mayor's kid says. His hair is a perfect bowl cut, framing his stubby face and falling in his eyes so that he looks like a near clone of his dad Mayor Aubrey James.

"Having a nice time?" Bruce asks AJ, handing me a glass of lemonade. He knows I hate cherry-flavored stuff.

AJ looks around nervously and then back at Bruce "I wouldn't say nice, exactly. But at least no one's bothering me, tonight."

A frown crosses Bruce's brow, before his voice comes out in an effortless lilt as it usually does when he's getting ready to pounce on someone. "I'm glad to hear that," the disarming, concerned smile, "…but, who bothers you on other nights?"

AJ glances around quickly and then looks back at Bruce, nervously. "No one, okay? Look, I've got other people in line. Nice seeing you."

Bruce picks up his lemonade and we turn and nearly bump into two blonde kids who are standing so close to one another they could be conjoined twins.

"Excuse us." The blonde girl says and gives me that once-over that rich-bitches usually do. "I don't think I know you." she states like it's an accusation.

I match her once-over with one of my own and then say "Well, I _know _I don't know you. And that's fine by me."

I feel Bruce's arm tightening around mine a bit, as though he's nervous I'll reach out and strike this chick. He's got nothing to worry about.

Wouldn't be a fair fight.

"Well, well. Aren't you Bruce Wayne?" the blonde guy says, and he has this eternal smirk that instantly annoys me. His cuff-links look like actual diamonds and his eyes are so green they look unreal. His hair is a dizzying blonde nest that I'm sure he constructed carefully with hair gel.

"I am." Bruce says with some flicker of recognition and then says "And you're-"

"Jonas Green." The kid says cutting Bruce off. He unglues himself from his date so he can shake Bruce's hand. "This is my date, Dinah Lee." Jonas tilts his head in the girl's direction, but she can't even fake a smile as she nods at Bruce and gives me another sideways-glance.

"Right…" Bruce says shaking the kid's hand, "I'm _very_ sure you don't go to this school." Bruce adds, and his tone suggests that there's something him and the kid aren't saying. And their handshake is going on just a bit too long.

"We don't. My dad came to consult with some of the companies here about the reunification. Dinah's friend goes here, and she invited us." They finally back away from the handshake and the guy's hand links with his dates again like a magnet. "But, to be fair, I don't think you go here either."

Bruce smiles. "Not anymore. But, hey, you only get one senior prom, right?"

Jonas flashes a blinding smile and it annoys me that I have to admit the guy is gorgeous. Like drop-dead.

"Right, indeed, Bruce. Or at least right for you." he gives a self-satisfied grin "I'll have my own prom in a few months." For a moment, he just stares at Bruce smugly, as though he's won something.

_God, what a prick. _

Realizing that he's getting no reaction from Bruce, Jonas gives a parting nod. "Welp. See you around." Jonas says, and he and his date turn and walk away.

"Probably." Bruce replies but the smile drops from his face as he leads me back towards the dance floor.

Him: 

"What's with you?" Selina asks as we step back onto the dance floor and begin a lazy two-step. I look at her and realize that she definitely caught on to that little exchange. I have to remember that Selina is more than just my date; she's my best friend. She knows me better than anyone.

"That kid," I say, gesturing in his general direction.

"Jonas Green Eyes?" Selina says and shakes her head "What about him?"

"His name is _not_ Jonas Green. That's Oliver Queen. His father is Robert Queen, founder and CEO of Queen Industries."

Selina's eyes widen. "So, he's another 'billionaire boy'?" she says with newfound understanding.

"Not exactly. His father is still living so, actually, _he's_ the billionaire. But that's the thing. If Queen is in town, he's likely looking into some monopolistic business interest. He's a direct competitor to Wayne Enterprises."

Robert Queen bringing business to Gotham means plants, pollution and weapons. They make more money from weapons than any other product. The last thing Gotham needs is _more_ guns.

_I can't even begin to imagine what else his presence means, but I'm sure I'll have to call an emergency board meeting_, I think.

Selina squints at me "So in other words, you're worried that someone else is going to home in on your billionaire territory?"

She scoffs derisively, "Give me a break."

"You know me better than that, Selina." I say and realize that at this point we are pretty much at a standstill as far as dancing is concerned. "The issue is that if Robert Queen is here, he's likely trying to develop something big in Gotham. _Strictly_ for financial gain. He won't care about Gotham_ or_ its citizens like I do."

Selina touches my shoulder affably "No, no. I know that Bruce. I just…"

"You just think we're all the same."

"I don't." Selina says, and I nod but look past her and over to the small dais where the principal seems preparing to make an announcement.

Principal Elias Row stands on a stage that is maybe midway in the room. Behind him stands a diminutive blonde woman who I vaguely recall as being a teacher and guidance counselor. On the sides are two others who I am sure are also teachers. Chaperones for the night, I suppose.

"I know it's the moment you've all been waiting for…" Principal Row begins.

Selina's hand strokes my cheek and forces my eyes back to hers. "I know you're not like the rest of those rich assholes, Bruce." Selina says quietly and there's a true disappointment in her eyes. "It's just that...well, I thought tonight would be one night where we don't have to worry about all that other stuff. Business or money or…anything. So, for tonight, can we just let that "Jonas Green" kid be just another kid? Let you just be Bruce and let me just be Selina. Two kids who are enjoying their only senior prom?"

I look into Selina's eyes and see the softness there. The softness that I hardly ever get to see. She's right, of course. Queen Industries and everything else, will still be there in the morning.

I reach up and grip Selina's hand from my face and nod. "Okay. For tonight, we can just be two kids enjoying their only prom."

"Good." Selina says with a smile, "Now, enough of this crap!" She huffs, gripping my hand and dragging me towards the DJ station near the dais. "Let's get them to play some good music."

We are weaving through the couples when I hear the principal declare, "…Bruce Wayne!" And suddenly there's a spotlight on me.

Selina and I freeze, and I look around trying to determine what's just happened.

Everyone starts cheering and Selina starts to pull away from me.

"What's happening?" I ask in confusion, refusing to let Selina's hand go.

Selina pulls away from me forcefully and gives me a little push towards the dais.

"You've just been voted Prom King, clueless."


	4. Chapter 3 - Dancing to Death

**3\. Dancing to Death**

Her:

I watch from the crowd as Bruce awkwardly steps onto the stage. There's a slight and pretty blonde-haired teacher. She has blush pink cheeks and blood-red lips and looks more like a living doll, than an adult human. The lady is holding a little pillow with a golden crown on it and I see Bruce holding out his hands in protest. I'm sure he's going to say he can't accept it. That he doesn't even go here for God's sake!

But this is Gotham. Not like that really matters. All that does matter is that Bruce was the face of corporate generosity when Gotham was an island. That he helped in any small ways that he could with money, supplies and emergency care.

Whether he likes it or not, Bruce Wayne is the most popular kid at this school. At _every _school in Gotham.

"So, that's Bruce Wayne." I hear a willowy voice say and I turn and see a thin caramel colored girl with a short, baby-blue Afro. Her dress is a slinky baby-blue snakeskin and she's so beautiful, tall and thin, that she immediately gives me model vibes. She's flanked by the small girl I saw earlier with pigtails and another girl with freckles, short reddish-brown curls, wide brown eyes and the same model-like height and figure.

"Yep." I answer with a smile. "That's Bruce Wayne."

"He's really cute." Blue hair says, regarding Bruce admiringly.

"Yeah, he is." I say and look back over to the stage where Bruce has been forced into accepting the crown. The golden crown looks clumsily large on him and the sash is golden too with silver lettering.

Can you say overkill?

Bruce finds my eyes and gives me a look that says _Help Me! _but I smile, shake my head and mouth:

_You're on your own._

"I'm Celestia," the blue-haired, model girl says suddenly and nods over at her friends. "This is Harleen," she says nodding at pigtails and then to freckles "and Crystal."

_Oh brother_. Not sure why they choose right now to form a new social club, but I suck it up and remember how I asked Bruce if we could just be normal for tonight. I guess "normal" girls do talk to each other.

I give a cordial smile to all three, "I'm Selina."

"We know." Harleen says and her eyes hold something that I would mark as a mix of admiration and maybe even anger. She looks back over to the stage at Bruce and says in an almost comically, thick accent, "Gee, I _wish_ a guy would look at me the way Bruce looks at you."

Seeing her up close, it's clear that the preteen is wearing a ton of makeup. So much that it almost looks like a mask. But her black clunky glasses and tiny height make her look much younger and probably closer to her real age. This kid is 14-years old...at the _most_.

"Hey, you're a kid…" I say and Harleen looks up at me like a trapped rat. "How did _you_ even get in here?" I ask, trying not to sound as disgusted as I immediately feel. The idea of some 18-year-old asshole "dating" a 12 to 14-year old is enough to make me glad I slipped my clawed gloves into my purse's special lining tonight.

"Oh, it's not what you think." Crystal answers for the girl. "Harleen is here with me. Her foster mom is my...well, I know her." She says and looks a little shifty, like she's lying, but I can't imagine why she would be. "Well, she left her home alone with her shady boyfriend. I didn't feel good about it, so I just brought her here with me."

I give Crystal a skeptical look but glance back at the preteen. She's giving me this pensive look like she could either kiss me or kill me.

_Someone needs to get this kid some therapy, ASAP._

But, it's not for me to say whether or not she should be here. And at least she's not with some 18-yr old d-bag.

"Not my business." I respond and look back at the stage. Bruce is trying not to look as attractive as he is by being solemn and staring at the floor, but it's not working.

"My apologies for that unanticipated technical difficulty." Principal Row says with a smile, "So now, without further ado your Anders Preparatory Prom Queen is…"

I look around the room trying to spy which girl looks like she's getting ready for her name to be called.

My eyes land on _her_ and I have to actively suppress the hiss, just as the Principal screams:

"Silver Saint Cloud!"

Him:

I haven't seen her in years. I just assumed she was gone from here. Far away and never to return. That probably would have been the smart move.

But then again, I guess me getting out of here is the smart move too and I haven't made it, either.

_At least, not yet..._

Silver practically floats onto the stage and they grace her head with the small crystal tiara. She walks over to me and gives me a smile that timidly reaches her eyes as she waits for me to hold out my arm for the customary dance.

I don't mean to, but instinctively I glance out at Selina. Her arms crossed, she's shooting daggers at Silver.

_Great…_

I realize that I could shun her. Refuse the dance and leave Silver standing up here looking dejected. But, of course, Alfred's voice finds its way into my head.

'_A proper gentleman always treats a lady like a lady…Even if she hasn't always acted like one.'_

I hardly want to be touching Silver, much less dancing with her. But, it's unnecessary to embarrass her in front of a room full of her peers. I take Silver's hand and lead her out onto the dance floor.

The last time I saw Silver Saint Cloud, she'd successfully helped her uncle to kidnap me and offer me up to a crazed cult that almost ended in my literal sacrifice. Though, to her credit, Silver did try to stop it at the last minute. But that was such a long time ago.

I've nearly lost my life so many times since, that that incident is one that I can just barely recall.

So, my only true issue with dancing with Silver now is that I would much rather be dancing with Selina.

As we hold onto one another, waiting for the song to begin, Silver stammers out nervously, "B-Bruce? I-I-"

"Silver, don't." I say and look down at her. From her expression, I can tell she imagines I'm about to cut her to shreds with my words, but she couldn't be further from the truth.

"It's ancient history." I say and give Silver what I hope passes for a comforting smile.

I do my best to look friendly and Silver plasters on a fake smile and then we dance in silence for the next few minutes.

The dance is over soon enough, and I lead Silver to her table wordlessly before heading back to find Selina. I remove the ridiculous crown and sash and set it on the dessert table by the edge. As I am heading back to my preferred dance partner, I have a thought and instead make my way over to VJ, a classmate and the DJ for the evening.

"I'd like to make a request."

Her:

That blonde haired little bitch. I can't even believe she had the nerve to ever come back to Gotham, let alone come back to this school. _Bruce's_ old school. Yeah, he doesn't go here anymore, but I'll bet_ she_ didn't know that!

_I just might need my claws before the night's over, after all._

I've lost sight of Bruce but am heading back over to our table, when I hear it.

_I'm just gonna stand with my bag hanging off my left arm  
I'm just gonna walk home kicking stones at parked cars_

It's the song. Not exactly our song. We've never had an official one, but every now and then we'll be listening to music together and we mutually love a song. It's something that is so rare that whenever it happens, we know. We kind of look at each other and smile and then we just know.

_But I had a great night, 'cause you kept rubbing against my arm  
So, I'm just gonna stand with my bag hanging off my left arm_

I look around, but I don't see Bruce. He must have requested it, right? I mean what are the chances that he didn't. But I can't find him.

_What a freakin' waste…_

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder and his voice hums into my ear.

"I want the entire street out of town just so I can be alone with you" Bruce whisper-sings and his hand is back around my waist, his fingers weaving through mine.

And Bruce can't sing.

Not a bit.

But his voice is the best sound I've heard all night.

I feel the smile breaking through and forget everything else I was thinking. Everything except this boy.

These eyes.

This voice.

We stay this way, holding each other, swaying and listening to our unofficial song, up until the very last line.

…_Just to adore you, I adore you…_

The song ends but I want to hold onto Bruce just a little longer. Best song of the night and I'm wearing a beautiful dress and dancing with my guy. _The_ guy. Night couldn't be better.

I pull away from Bruce's shoulder and look up at him.

"You requested that song."

"I did."

"That was sweet."

"I hoped you'd like it." Bruce says and reaches down swiping my curls away from my face.

I feel blood rushing to my cheeks as his dark eyes bore holes and I glance down and say "I mean, yeah. I guess it was nice to have at least one dance end without feeling like my ears were going to start bleeding."

Bruce throws his head back and laughs and then smiles down at me. "You're absolutely one of a kind, Selina."

He tilts up my chin and his eyes go deep and hazy. He gazes at my lips and eases down.

I start to close my eyes and lean up, waiting for his kiss…

…But then I hear a scream so loud that my ears almost_ literally_ start bleeding.

My hands cover my ears and I look up and see Bruce is grimacing. We turn to look in the general direction of the scream.

Nearby the wide door leading to the locker hallway, I see that blonde girl from earlier—Dinah Lee. She's still shrieking, and I see that there is some guy pulling her away from the door trying to get her to calm down.

Dinah finally stops screaming hysterically and I can see that she's saying something. I take my hands off my ears and I hear her yelling:

"He's dead! _My God, he's dead!_"


	5. Chapter 4 - What a Glamorous Life

**4\. What a Glamorous Life**

Him:

My eyes find the clock on the wall.

10:43 pm.

Immediately, the room erupts. Screaming, running, crying and hundreds of kids racing for the entrance.

Amidst this sea of chaos, only two people remain standing still. Selina and me.

I quickly glance at the door and note that the body is being surrounded by a quickening pool of blood. Still there is not enough light in here to see from this distance where the blood is coming from.

Because of the distance between his body and us, I would say that the attacker must have exited through that door leading to the hallway, versus heading for the entrance.

_So, they're likely still in the building._

And at the same time, the main rush of kids heading for the door were already on this side of the room. So, it's also unlikely that the assailant was able to kill someone, go unnoticed and then rush back over to our side quick enough to mingle in with the kids who've already left.

Again, this means the killer is more likely than not still in the building…

…_Or choosing an alternate exit._

I see girls and guys rushing to the side of the room where the body lays and some are immediately driven to add into the chorus of screams. One girl, who I suppose must know the kid, is on her knees sobbing nearby him. Closer to the entrance, kids are crowded by the door still trying to escape.

And again, I note that Selina and I are at a standstill.

I look at Selina and she's not surveying the room. Not trying to make out the body or determine from this distance the entrance wound. Instead, she is gazing up at me with those wide hazel eyes.

She's silently pleading with me…but for what I cannot tell.

Her:

I get it.

A kid's been killed. It's tragic. It's heinous and it's…disturbing. In Gotham, no one is safe. Not even at a prom. Most of these kids have extremely bright futures for no other reason than the names under 'Parents' on their birth certificates. So, the lives of the bold and the beautiful are shocked by this. They can't handle it so much that every few seconds another scream breaks out.

Most of these kids have never ever seen a dead body, so it's life-altering for pretty much every single kid in this room.

Every single kid except for me and Bruce.

And God-damnit, he's got _that_ look.

That thoughtful, ponderous, detecting look he gets when he's trying to put the "preliminary pieces" of something together.

And as sad as it is for that kid and these kids, and as messed up as it is that this had to happen during their prom…I just don't want to do it.

I want tonight to be _our _night. A night where we don't have to worry about being the heroes or the crooks or the moral police.

I just wanted to dance with my freaking date. Maybe get a swig of some spiked punch and then make out. Make memories. _Good_ memories for God-damn once.

And so as much as I know it goes against Mr. Purpose's belief system, I just want him to take my hand and walk the other way. Leave this craziness, these screamers and yes, even that dead body. Walk with me out into the night, get in his car and drive off under the stars.

_Just this once, Bruce,_ I think, and I look up at him, mustering every ounce of begging that I have in me and focusing it through my eyes.

_Pleasssseeeee._

Kids continue swirling around us, mostly everyone who wanted out, is either already gone or still pushing their way towards the door. And Bruce is staring down at me, trying to read my expression.

Just when I can't take it anymore, he gives me a sympathetic look and then reaches down and takes my hand. He gives me a slight nod of acknowledgement.

I sigh. _Actually,_ sigh with relief. Which is rare.

I weave my fingers through Bruce's and smile. And he gives me another reassuring nod.

Inside, I am praising the freaking universe for cutting me a break. Letting Bruce for once, leave the shitstorm to the cops and know that I need a night off from letting everyone else's problems become ours.

I turn to head towards the entrance and with one step I feel myself being yanked backwards by Bruce.

_What the-?!_

Him:

(Seconds earlier).

Selina's eyes are pleading with me. And I realize why: she doesn't want to help with the investigation. Okay. I acknowledge that I am prone to trying to solve things that I don't necessarily need to be the one to solve.

This isn't what our night is supposed to be about. I understand. So, we'll just help by examining the body in its current state. See if we can find any initial clues that will help with the murder for when the cops get here.

Settling on this compromise in my mind, I give Selina what I hope is a comforting look and then, taking her hand, I nod.

_We'll just collect the preliminary evidence for the GCPD and then we'll go_.

Selina smiles up at me and interlocks her fingers with mine. She's with me. As always.

I turn in the direction of the body and take a step and then I feel myself being yanked backwards by Selina.

_Wha-?_

I glance back at Selina and she, turned towards the entrance door, is being pulled back by me just the same.

"Selina, where are you going?" I ask, turning around to face her.

Selina squints at me and then says in a desperate tone, gesturing toward the entrance, "To the door, Bruce. Out there with the rest of the night and the rest of our date…"

"Selina…" I start and try to loosen my grip, but she tightens hers.

"We can't just leave. We have to help with the investigation. We have to help him."

"We _can't_ help him, Bruce. He's gone." Selina says, again motioning toward the entrance door. "There's nothing we can do."

"We can try and gather some evidence. Get the initial steps out of the way for when the GCPD gets here."

Selina snatches her hand away from me and heaves a sigh so deep that she almost sounds like she's gasping.

"Bruce, please. For once, _please_ just leave this to the police."

I try to tread carefully. I am not trying to upset her, and I know that this isn't what we had planned. But I can't just leave. Someone killed a kid. A kid just minding his own business enjoying his prom. Who would do something like that?

_And why?_

"Selina...you know I can't do that."

Her:

I shake my head and stare down at the ground. Bruce is lying. And worst of all, he doesn't even _know _he's lying. He won't be able to stop at gathering initial clues. He'll have to know what. Then he'll move on to when. And finally, why and who. If we go over there, we are not gathering clues for the police. We're gathering clues for _us_ and the murder that _we're_ going to have to solve.

All of a sudden, I feel like crying. Why? Why do I have to date Mr. Morality? Mr. Junior Detective of any and every mystery ever known to mankind.

Why?

And more importantly, why do I care?

I look back at the door and then back at Bruce and down to his pocket.

I could do it easy. Swipe his keys from him—though, of course he'd give them to me too…

I could swipe his keys and push past those kids and spend the rest of my night cruising and chewing on the snacks that Bruce keeps for me in the glove compartment. Hell, I even still have his black card. I could treat myself to a night on the town at his expense and have the best night of my freaking life!

I could…

If only he didn't have _those_ eyes.

"Selina…" he says.

And _that_ voice.

I stare at the door, see all of the other girls with their dates frantically making their way out of it. Corsages, poufy dresses and diamonds blur and even though their nights have been impacted, I know that they will find a way to get back some fun for the evening.

While I'll be spending our "_only_" prom night, helping my guy to try and solve a murder.

_What a glamorous life I lead._

I close my eyes and turn back to Bruce. I want to stomp his foot at the very least, but I can't. I know him. He's the guy. He's _my_ guy. And this is just who he is.

It doesn't matter.

I give myself a few seconds. Close my eyes, lean my head against his chest and curse myself internally for not reaching down a few more inches and snatching out those damn keys.

I feel his hand reaching beneath my chin and turning my face up to his. I finally allow my eyes to open and see his. His eyes are pleading, begging for my forgiveness and yet making no apology at the same damn time.

Just like always.

And just like always, I know that I will be over there in just a few moments, idling by as he looks for clues to a murder that someone else could just as easily gather.

"Come on, Bruce." I say resignedly and grab his hand as I head towards the body.

"After all, there's nothing like a little murder mystery to _really_ spice up a date."


	6. Chapter 5 - Contaminant

**5\. Contaminant**

Him:

Surprisingly, Selina leads the way, practically dragging me towards the body. Principal Row seems to be finally taking control of the room as he stands on the dais again. His pale face is going red as he demands over the mic that no other students are let in or out, and that the security guards control the remaining crowd.

_Too late_, I think, as by this point over half of the attendees are already gone.

Based on the body's proximity so near the hallway entrance, however, I stand by my earlier assertion that the killer has at the very least escaped through another exit and at the most is still in the building.

Principal Row then declares that we are going into lock-down.

_Great._

After Gotham began being rebuilt, there was a government mandate that all reconstructed schools be built up to be virtual fortresses during any necessary lock-down periods. The new windows are bulletproof, as is every door. And the doors have been reinforced with steel to withstand tons of pressure.

Once the lock-down is initiated, only a single, electric tri-button key known as the "lock-switch" which the principal possesses, can open the doors again.

As soon as the remaining students are herded away from the door, Principal Row presses the button and ensures that no one else is getting in or out. He then begins walking into the crowd by the front door and explaining the lock-down procedures as he's met with groans and complaints. Their complaints are pointless. It would take an army tank equipped with a rocket launcher to reach us now.

I check my watch and again the wall clock and note that it's been about 6 minutes since Dinah screamed. And that the school clock is off by two minutes. Mine is a military watch set precisely to the official North American Atomic Clock, (the NIST-F2) and powered with a lithium-ion grade battery so that it never slows.

I survey the room and note that there are only about 70 kids remaining. And then look back at the body as we make our way through the small crowd and the continuing chorus of screams.

I just about add my own scream when I see that there is a janitor readying a mop to contaminate the crime scene by mopping up the blood.

Her:

"Stop that!" Bruce yells and he yanks away from me rushing to stop the janitor. He's too late, as the janitor plops the mop into the pool of blood right as Bruce is jutting his arm out to stop him.

_Crap._

"What are you _doing_?!" Bruce yells and makes himself a barricade to any further cleaning attempt. "You are contaminating a crime scene! That is a punishable offense!"

The janitor grimaces and then looks down at the mess with near annoyance. "Blood _stains_, kid. I'm just trying to do my job."

The janitor's an older guy, wearing a name-tag that says "Sal". He has a slight hump and a face that looks well-worn by life. I kinda feel sorry for the guy, but Bruce is right.

He seems hellbent on continuing and tries to lift his mop above Bruce's arm and get back to it.

Before he can, I sidestep him, turn in a half-twirl, and my back to the body and Bruce, I snatch the end of the mop with my right hand and toss it back into the janitor's yellow bucket.

"Hey!" Sal gripes, but I ignore him.

After quickly gauging the distance, I shove the bucket away with my heel saying, "Thanks, guy. But we'll take it from here."

The janitor gives me a nasty glare but ambles after the runaway bucket. I look at Bruce and he's shaking his head. I can just imagine his running thoughts about being surrounded by amateurs.

"Not everyone solves crimes in their spare time, Bruce. Cut the guy a break." I say and pat his shoulder, before yanking the silver and white kerchief out of his pocket and wiping the scummy mop water from my hands.

"Alrighty, detective. Start detectiv-ing." I add and offer the kerchief back to Bruce, but he motions me away.

"You can keep it."

Him:

Selina tosses the handkerchief away mumbling about how she appreciates the thought but she'd rather not.

The janitor out of the way, I kneel down and examine the chest of the body carefully without touching it. I find the entrance wound quickly.

A single stab to the chest.

The way that the blood has pooled suggests that the wound was deep and precise, so death was almost instant. The position of the blood stain that has seeped into his white shirt also suggests that it is a heart wound.

Kid never had a chance.

I glance over at the nearly clear cleaning water that has oozed into the blood's edge from the janitor's cleaning attempt.

Too late, its contaminated.

_But if I could find a way to prevent the cleaner from heavily mixing in…_

I look up at the small crowd surrounding us and see a few girls wearing shawls. But then again, their skin has contacted those so that's no good.

I see AJ looking stricken by the edge of the crowd. As we made our way over, he was in the corner vomiting. Now he just looks like he's seen a ghost.

Or a dead body, more like.

All at once, I recall that AJ was serving drinks earlier.

"AJ? At the food table, are there gloves and paper towels?"

AJ's face is whitened, and his teeth are almost chattering, but his eyes train on me and he seems to comprehend what I am saying. He answers with a quick nod.

"Good. Go over there and put on a pair. Then bring me the paper towels and the box with the remainder of the gloves."

AJ stays staring at me for a few seconds too long and Selina says "Kid? Get to it. We don't have all night, here." This seems to snap him out of it, and he rushes out of sight.

I stand up and remove my jacket, thinking to hand it to Selina, but she gives me a look that lets me know she'd probably toss it right back at me. I shake my head and toss it backwards to the right of the hallway door.

Hurrying back over, AJ hands me the box of gloves and the paper towels. I flip the glove box over and rip open the pack from the bottom. The cleanest gloves come from that end of the box. I put on a pair and then pick up the paper towels.

_A knife_, I think and look up at Selina, who seems to be reading my mind as she slides on a clawed glove and then shreds a line down the long side of the paper towels.

Utilizing the same concept as before, I pull the paper towels from nearest the tube that have been freshly exposed so that they have had the least human contact. I quickly but carefully layer them in the mess so that the cleaner-contaminated blood is separated from the rest.

"It's not perfect, but it'll do." I say and then ripping off those gloves, I pull on another pair and motion for the growing crowd of kids to stand back.

I carefully begin to undo the shirt and then look up into the victim's face.

Instantly, I feel sick.

I was so laser-focused on examining the wound, that I hadn't even looked at his face.

Oh my God…

I _know _this kid.


	7. Chapter 6 - Torn

**6\. Torn**

Her:

Bruce's back stiffens, and his hands freeze over the first button.

"What is it?" I ask and squint over at the kid and then back at Bruce.

"I know him." Bruce says softly and then adds "…_knew_ him…"

He shakes his head gently. "It's Brant Jones…"

"Oh, Bruce," I say and feel like an asshole for my earlier thoughts of escaping. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. We weren't close. He was Tommy's friend, really. It's just…I didn't even notice." Bruce says and then he takes a deep breath and continues unbuttoning the kid's shirt.

Bruce pulls the shirt open and there's this gaping hole. The blood looks like it was soaked up mostly by the kid's undershirt, so the wound is fairly clean. Clean enough that you can see the shape, at least.

"It's triangular…" Bruce says softly, and I try and recall if I've ever seen a triangular knife but can't.

"What would make a triangular wound?" I ask, leaning down over his shoulder and Bruce shakes his head,

"I don't know."

"What _exactly_ do you think you're _doing_?!" I hear a gruff voice yelling and we turn and see the principal standing above us with a look of horror. He's a tall lanky guy, wearing a dark blue suit, with strands of black hair combed over a shining bald spot. His face is nothing but a picture of indignant stress.

_Talk about a walking stereotype._

Bruce stands up and looks the principal in the eye. "This kid was murdered, Principal Row."

"I can see _that_! I am not blind!"

"Well, your janitor contaminated the crime scene. So, before things get too far gone, I am examining the body to see what clues I can find. This way, we have a strong possibility of helping the police to find the killer."

As usual, Bruce's voice is steady and confident. It's always that way so that people can't read his bullshit. But, of course, I can. Like I said, Bruce isn't waiting around for the police. He's planning to find the killer himself.

"_Mr_. Wayne," The principal says through gritted teeth and he gets that look on his face that people do whenever they're annoyed with the many liberties "Billionaire Boy" thinks he can take. "You are _neither_ a forensic examiner _nor _a police officer! You are not _even_ a student at this school anymore. You have no right to be "examining" anything!" As he speaks, the principal moves towards Bruce in a way that causes him to back up a little.

"So, I will ask that you kindly leave this boy to be examined by the _actual_ authorities!"

"If you had only ensured that your janitor had _proper_ training, then I wouldn't need to try and capture evidence that could be lost with time!" Bruce huffs back, but the principal isn't budging and goes on about how Bruce is technically tampering with a crime scene.

As the two of them continue their pissing contest, I notice something sticking out of the dead guy's inside jacket pocket. I take off my clawed glove and grip one of the plastic ones.

I'm practically doing a one-handed handstand to keep my dress away from the mess, as I lean down and quickly swipe up the note.

I pull it out and read it silently:

_Pick up tux_

_Head to Tommy's_

_Get condoms_

_Pick up Celestia_

_Shoot \\-_

And the rest of the note is torn away.

"Bruce," I say as I walk over to his side, being sure to ignore Principal Loudmouth. "Look."

Bruce takes the note and scans it quickly. "A part of this note is torn." He says and looks at me as though waiting on an explanation.

"Well, _I _didn't tear it!" I yip and toss off the glove. "It was torn already."

Bruce squints and then glances out into the various crowds. "Tommy's over there. But…" he looks at the note again. "Who is Celestia?"

I recall the girl with the blue Afro who introduced herself earlier and scan the room. I see her head across the room nearby the entrance door with a small group of kids.

"Girl with the blue hair."

"How do you know that?"

"She introduced herself." I say, and Bruce raises an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"How should I know, Bruce. But she did. Look, do you want to try and figure this out or what?"

Bruce doesn't answer as instead we hear, "Ahem!" in a loud screechy tone. We look over and see the principal staring at us indignantly, his face reddened with fury at being ignored.

"The authorities are on their way!" he yells, holding up a radio-walkie and then says, "And until they get here, no one else is to go near that body!"

"Whatever you say, Boss." I say, but turn to see if I can spy any more clues on the kid, but a security guard is now standing in front of him.

_Ugh._

If only it was darker in here, I could kick this guy's ass right out of my way.

Him:

I see Selina getting that vicious spark in her eye and decide that it's not worth it to start any brawls in here. We already have one dead body and several traumatized civilians. We don't need anymore.

"Okay, Principal Row." I say and as I whip off my glove, I casually slide the hand holding the note into my pocket. "We'll go."

I reach out for Selina who's in the middle of a troublesome stare-off with the security guard and guiding her shoulders I ease her away from him.

"I could take him, Bruce." Selina whispers.

"I know that, Selina. But it's not necessary. We know enough to start asking some questions."

Glancing towards the heavy concentration of kids by the entrance door, I notice Tommy's eyes on us. He almost looks happy, but that wouldn't make sense, because Brant was one of his friends.

_Or is Tommy one of the kids who didn't see the body?_

"So, what are we gonna do now? Stand around here with the rest of these mooks and wait for the GCPD?" Selina asks, as we make our way toward the others.

"Well, seeing as we've been sidelined from investigating, we don't really have a choice, do we?" I say and then I have a thought. "Although…the principal didn't say anything about speaking to our fellow classmates. We need a plan."

"What for? We have two names. Let's just ask 'em what they saw. What they know." Selina says with a shake of her head.

"If we ask them what they know, and the killer is among them, he or she could catch on that we're trying to solve this. Let's just stick to what they saw. And asking that in the spirit of general, morbid curiosity." As I say this, I turn slightly, and we head back over to our original table.

"What's up?" Selina says as she plunks into her seat.

"One thing that doesn't make sense."

I sit across from Selina and grip her hands before kissing one softly. She gives me a stare like I'm out of my mind, before she feels that I am using our hands to shield the note she handed me.

Selina leans in and smiles slightly so that it looks like we're having an intimate conversation.

"If the killer tore this note," I say looking down at it again, "What were they tearing off? And why not just take the whole note…?"

Selina looks at the note and then back at me. "Who says the killer tore it?"

"No one yet. But so far, it's the closest thing we have to a clue. Look at the top," I say and hold my hands open just a bit and Selina looks down at the corner "The blood is only near the top right corner. And as it's highly unlikely that anyone would risk taking the time to stay with their victim and tear a note _after _stabbing them, it means that this note must have been torn before Brant was killed."

Selina nods. "Then, what say we head over to the brat pack and see if we can get some things cleared up?"

"Alright. You have at least a semi-in with this Celestia. I'll talk to Tommy first and see what I can find out." We stand up together and Selina takes the note from my hand slipping it into her purse.

We take about two steps and then there's a loud exploding sound, followed by another chorus of screams. The ground begins to vibrate and the lights black out.


	8. Chapter 7 - Reason

**7\. Reason**

Her:

Now, the building is shaking. Great. Shaking buildings are_ never_ a good sign.

I blink a few times and my eyes adjust to the dark. I gaze around the room and see the tables falling over and the principal hanging on to his precious dais podium for dear life. Most all of the kids are huddling together in various panicky groups.

Most but not all, as I see one kid straying away quickly. It's a girl that I recognize from earlier with Celestia.

Cris…?

Chrissy…?

_Crystal!_

Crystal's shaking, but she's holding the wall to steady herself and heading towards the side of the room with Brant's body.

_Definitely_ not a good sign.

I feel Bruce pulling me into him suddenly and I hear a loud crash. I glance around his shoulder and see that the ice sculpture is shattered in the spot where I was just standing.

I can see the sculpture plainly, but how did Bruce…?

I tilt my head and look up at him and he's wearing a pair of tinted glasses. They look like regular shades, but they're obviously for night vision.

_Of course Bruce brought night-vision glasses to our prom._

Him: 

Almost as suddenly as it started, the shaking of the building stops, and the room settles into a dark, murmuring quiet.

I am holding Selina tightly and staring at the broken ice sculpture where she was standing. She could have been killed.

_Did it fall from the blast, or did someone shove it…?_

Must have been the blast. Why would anyone in this room try and hurt Selina?

"B-Bruce?" Selina says, and I notice that she is struggling against me.

"What's wrong?" I ask and loosen up enough that I can see her eyes peering up at me.

"Y-you're sq-queezing me so tight-I can barely b-breathe is what." Selina squeaks out and I become aware of just how tightly I am holding her and that my body is shivering.

The thought of someone killing her…losing her. I don't even want to imagine it...

"Sorry," I say, releasing her gently. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Selina says, and I see her eyes trained across the room.

"That girl just took something out of the dead kid's pocket." Selina says, and I whirl around and see a blur of pink tulle easing away from Brant's body against a wall.

The lights aren't back on and there's no real explanation that I can give as to why I have night-vision glasses and my girlfriend can somehow see in the dark. For now, we'll just have to make a note of it.

"Did you get a good look at her face?" I ask Selina and she nods.

"Better than that: I know her name. It's Crystal."

I am sure that I must look as incredulous as I feel at her statement. "How could you_ possibly _know _her _name?!"

"She was with that Celestia girl and she introduced her to me."

I shake my head. "OK. Was there anyone else? Do you know the name of anyone else in this room?"

Selina gives me a knowing smile and crosses her arms. "Principal Row, that janitor Sal, AJ, some girl named Harleen…and that _bitch_, Silver Saint Cloud." And then she gives me this evil look, like she's just remembered that she's supposed to be angry with me.

"Selina...please..."

"Please, _what_? Mr. _Prom_ _King_." She hisses, hurling the title as though it's a curse.

Thankfully, just as she's gearing up for some ill-timed tirade, a blast of light hits our eyes.

Her: 

_Yikes! _

Someone's turned on two giant generator lamps and I am blinded immediately. I shut my eyes and cover them with my hands.

I hear Bruce folding his glasses and putting them back into his pocket.

"Attention, everyone." I hear and blink my eyes a bit to focus on Principal Row who is standing on the dais again with the radio-walkie in his hand.

"Apparently, there was some sort of building blast outside. Some miscommunication between two demolition teams and so the roads are now blocked. No one is getting in or out. At least not for a few hours."

The room erupts into disturbed and anguished groans and the principal holds out his hands in a calming manner.

"_Please_, everyone. I know that this is a stressful and scary situation, but I assure you, we will be out of this building as soon as is humanly possible."

Ugh. So, we're at the mercy of _this_ guy now for hours.

"Miscommunication…?" Bruce says and looks at his watch skeptically and then back at the principal, "It's nearly 11 o' clock at night. What kind of demolition teams would schedule blasts so late?" and he takes a step towards the dais.

I roll my eyes and grab Bruce's arm to stop him. "I don't know, Bruce. But does it really matter? Either way we're stuck here for hours. Can we for once not assume that it's all a part of some elaborate coverup?"

Bruce shakes his head, clearly unconvinced but he lets it go for the moment as he glances back over to the kids nearest the entrance door.

"We'll leave it alone…for now. We do have a plan to impart. Three kids so far who may know something helpful. See if you can get in with this Crystal and Celestia."

We head together toward the crowds. Bruce splits and heads for a small herd of guys who are speaking in low tones and I beeline to the left for Celestia, whose blue hair stands out among the other girls.

Crystal is holding Celestia's head against her shoulder and a guilty look melts from her face when she sees me.

"Hi." Crystal says softly and Celestia looks up at me.

"Are you okay?" I ask, as I note that Celestia's face is tear-streaked.

"N-no. He-he was…W-we were…" Celestia says and shakes her head before dissolving back into tears. Crying softly she sinks her head into Crystal's shoulder again.

I'm a little skeptical about the way Celestia's carrying on. Guess it could be sincere, but could be an act too.

And man. Even crying, this girl is beautiful, but…there's something familiar about her golden-brown eyes.

"Celestia's been in love with Brant for years." Crystal explains as she rocks her friend soothingly. I nod and glance down and notice that Crystal's dress has pockets.

_Hmmm…_

"He finally gave her a chance after Grace started hanging out with…" Crystal starts, but her voice trails off as she gazes over and I follow her eyes over to Bruce.

Ah yes. The "billionaire brat" phase when Bruce was partying with those rich kids after he killed Ra's and being a total jackass.

_Good times._

"Were you with him tonight?" I ask Celestia, rubbing her shoulder gently and she glances up at me again.

"Yes. We came together, and we were going t-t-to a hotel after. All of us." She says motioning to Crystal and some guy with his back to us who's talking to Bruce.

"Were you nearby him when he was stab-" I start to say, but seeing that the little kid Harleen's eyes are widened as she gazes up at me, I do what I can to tone the question down. "Were you…dancing with him tonight? Before it_...happened?_"

"I was earlier. Then I let Crystal dance with him because Tommy was being an asshole. As _usual_." Celestia says and suddenly she sneers over at the group of guys. "If it weren't for him, Brant would have been in the photo booth with me!" Celestia snatches away from Crystal and flings herself in the guys' direction. "Tommy's the reason Brant's dead!"


	9. Chapter 8 - Unusual Suspects

**8\. Unusual Suspects**

Him:

(Minutes Earlier)

As soon as I leave Selina's side, I survey the guys standing around with Tommy Elliot. I recognize VJ-the-DJ, an average-build short guy, who's been wearing his signature yellow driving cap since I've known him, and AJ, who is standing nearest the door still looking stricken.

There are two other kids that I don't know. One, a tall, lanky guy with a mass of brown curls that are pulled away from his face in a loose ponytail, blue holder; the other, a stocky guy with a buzz cut.

"What's up, Bruce?" Tommy nods at me and gives a sympathetic smile, seeming much more apologetic than when I saw him earlier.

"Just, Brant." I say, being sure that my tone sounds sorrowful and not suspicious. "I can't believe it."

"Who would do something like that at a school dance?" the stocky guy says and shakes his head in disgust. "Yeah, the guy could be an asshole, but he didn't deserve to be killed."

"Does anyone?" I hear a monotone voice saying and look over to see the curly ponytail looking solemn and critical.

"You tell me, "_Falconey_"!" The buzz-cut says, and my ears perk up.

"Are you a Falcone?" I ask, and the curly-haired boy squints at me as though trying to determine if I am feigning my ignorance.

"Yes, I am. I'm Johnnie Falcone." He says finally with a huff. "One of the Falcone twins."

I didn't even know there _were_ Falcone twins.

_I really need to dial back in to Gotham's social scene._

"But, being a Falcone doesn't automatically mean that I am a criminal." Johnnie says, "And I should imagine that you would realize that from personal experience, "_Bully"_ Bullock!" as he ends the statement, Johnnie's eyes laser in on the buzz-cut kid, who flashes a proud smile.

"_Bullock_…? Are you related to detective Bullock?" I ask, even more aghast than I was at the Falcone kid.

With the Falcones', I know there are lots of them, I just didn't know any went here. But I've known Detective Bullock, at least peripherally, for years. I've never heard him mention_ any_ family.

"He's my older brother." The guy says. "I'm Derrick Bullock, but I go by Bully. I hardly know the guy. The only thing we have in common is that our dad was a cheating son-of-a-bitch. We've got siblings all over the country." Bully smiles again as though he's proud of this lurid fact.

Johnnie said that Bully knew from personal experience that a name didn't resign you to a certain fate. Does that mean that he's saying Bully has gone in the opposite direction? His brother's a cop and he's a criminal?

"Yes, well. My uncle was Carmine Falcone." Johnnie says with a clear tone of disgust. "But my mother never wanted any parts of his ill-won empire. She spent her life in service to the under-served, traveling around the world to help the poor and always taught me and my sister the same. The very idea of even harming someone not only repulses me, I find crime utterly deplorable." He pauses and gives a judging stare to Bully "You can attest to that, Bully."

Bully nods "I can. The guy is always acting like a goody-goody stick-in-the-mud. Can't even take the sight of a little blood."

I narrow my eyes at him "Why would he have been subjected to the sight of blood?" I say and the smile melts from Bully's face as he looks away guiltily.

"True." Johnnie says with a shudder "Bully and I were just coming from the bathroom when that girl screamed. And I couldn't even_ look_ at the body, because I go faint." I hear someone in the crowd snickering and Johnnie says, "I'm not ashamed of my limitations. Rather, I embrace them, unlike the rest of you cowards! I know exactly who I am and who I'm not. And to that end when I hit 18, my first move is to change my last name." He gives a pitiful shake of his head "Mother did everything she could, but the love she had for grandfather ran so deep that she _still_ gave us his name. I, however, don't want to spend my life associated with that criminal element."

_Hmmm. He seems pretty convincing…if just a bit on the long-winded side.  
_

"If you're done with your little sermon, how about we get back to what happened to Brant?" Tommy says with a pained and dismissive expression. "Yes, he could be a jerk, but he was our friend." Tommy glances around the group, "He was _everyone_ in this room's friend." His eyes stop on AJ, "Well…Almost everyone's…"

"It's not AJ's fault Brant treated him like shit." VJ pipes up, glaring at Tommy, the annoyance clear in his voice. "He made that kid's life a living hell!"

Tommy smiles affably and holds out his hands in a peaceful gesture. "I'm not defending his treatment of AJ. I am just saying that of everyone here, AJ's the only one who had a problem with him." Tommy glances back at me and then says "Actually…Bruce wasn't really a fan of his either, as I recall."

The group turns to stare at me.

_Great. _

My mind travels back to the memory of the incident to which Tommy must be referring.

I was going through a rough patch last year. Well, more than that. I'd killed Ra's and was taking it pretty hard. I started hanging with Tommy, Grace Blomdhal and a few other kids. Drinking, partying to dial down the pain. It was a difficult time for me, but more than that, I was an asshole to everyone in my life. And even some people who weren't in my life.

At the height of this period, I bought a nightclub that Brant was trying unsuccessfully to get us into. And then I invited everyone in the group inside. Everyone, except for Brant, who'd been taking potshots at me since the moment he met me.

At the time it felt good, but in hindsight, I realized that it wasn't the kindest, most gracious move.

And it doesn't exactly look great, now that the recipient of such boorish behavior is a murder victim.

I try and think of what to say as the surrounding eyes are all latched on to me. Of course, I didn't kill him, but I can see that they're all thinking me a possible suspect now.

"Bruce wasn't there." I hear from the edge and look over to see AJ stammering at the crowd. Everyone turns to him. "He was dancing with his date. I saw him." AJ says and points at me assuredly.

"That's true." VJ adds. "He requested a song for her a few minutes before that girl started screaming."

Right! I was dancing with Selina when Brant was killed.

Why didn't I immediately think of that?

_The basics. Pay attention to the basics, _I remember.

"Of course, he wasn't there!" Tommy says exasperated, and he looks as though the thought had never crossed his mind. "I was merely stating the fact that poor AJ here wasn't the only person after all that Brant didn't get along with."

"We all know that, Tommy." VJ says and his eyes are full of resentment. This guy seems pretty angry, "You're the only one who seems to think that Brant was innocent. I wasn't his friend either. I tolerated the guy, but he was a miserable son-of-a-bitch. And I'm not going to pretend to be sorry he's dead!"

The group silenced by the harsh words, everyone seems to momentarily retreat into their thoughts.

_Not sorry he's dead...? Interesting…_

Just as I am trying to determine how these new dynamics relate to Brant's death, I hear someone shrieking from the gathering of girls "…Brant would have been in the photo booth with me! Tommy's the reason Brant's dead!"


	10. Chapter 9 - Melee

**9\. Melee**

Her:

As Celestia directs her wrath in his general direction, I look over and see a thin boy with dark brown hair rolling his eyes. Yep. That's Tommy Elliot. I recognize him from the few times I saw him with Bruce.

"Would you dial down the drama, Celestia? Brant was one of my _best_ friends. I had nothing to do with his death."

I look the kid up and down and see evidence of nothing that looks even remotely like anguish, distress or pain in his expression or demeanor. The most emotion he's showing is looking mildly annoyed by Celestia's outburst.

_Best friend, huh? _

I look over at _my_ best friend, who also happens to be my date. If anyone in this room killed Bruce, I'd rip every single person in this entire school to shreds.

My eyes meet Bruce's and he raises his eyebrows at me, questioningly. I just shrug, because I have little clue what set her off.

"He was your friend only when it was convenient for you!" Celestia shouts and lunges for Tommy. A lanky girl, with a thick mass of curls tied back into a loose ponytail with a pink holder, catches Celestia in her arms.

"He's not worth it, Celestia." The girl says in a monotone voice.

"Touch me and my family's lawyers will have you pinned under the jail by midnight!" Tommy hisses back.

The curly-haired girl glares at Tommy "You're not the only one in this room with an army of lawyers, Tommy." She says, and her voice is icier than before. "So, watch it."

"Is that a _threat_, "Falconey"?" Tommy says.

A boy, who looks nearly identical to curly girl says, "Leave her alone, Tommy."

_Well, they're definitely twins._

All of a sudden, one of the boys shoves the curly boy into Tommy. Tommy turns and swings at the curly guy, but he ducks, and Tommy hits another guy instead. Within seconds, the guys are in an all-out brawl.

In response, the girls start up too. They're mostly shrieking and pushing each other, but some are yanking at their dates arms or beating guy's backs with their hands or purses.

A bunch of kids from other parts of the room rush toward us.

I grip my clutch tightly and try to back away from the fray, but someone knocks into me and the next thing I know, I am on the ground dodging sharp heels.

Him:

I didn't see who started this melee but some kid I don't know takes a swing at me. I quickly dodge him and subtly push his body so that he flies into a table with his own inertia. I begin moving quickly through the herd of guys.

I glance at the wall clock.

11:29 pm.

And then down at mine. 11:34 pm.

_Strange that the wall clock is getting even slower._

As I reach the edge of the guys, I see that the group of girls is shoving and pushing too. Immediately, my eyes search for her.

"Selina!" I yell, making my way fully out of the mayhem and over to the girls' gathering. "Selina!" I call and frantically search the group of girls, but I don't see her.

Just as I am trying to formulate a plan, I see a bunch of girls yipping and tumbling over grabbing at their ankles. As they tumble, a small path is cleared, and I see Selina crawling from beneath them with one of her clawed gloves on.

"Selina! Are you okay?" I ask, as I reach out my hand and pull her up from the ground.

"Fine," she says and pushes up the white hair-tie which had fallen down near her eyes. "But my dress sure isn't."

I look down at her dress and see that the white skirt is now splotched with dust, dirt and who knows what else.

"Please, don't worry." I say and glancing over at the kids still brawling, I pull Selina's body tightly against my side. At least now my white dress shirt will be ruined, in kind. "We can buy a new one." I add, as I maneuver us towards the tables which are mostly toppled over at this point.

Selina takes off the hair-tie, which is completely covered in sweat and dust and the band for her corsage which is now in tatters and tosses them both toward the ice sculpture puddle. "No biggie. It's not like I have anywhere else to wear a fancy dress to."

I feel a stab of guilt. I know it wasn't meant as a complaint, but Selina wanted to leave. I convinced her to stay and help me and now we're stuck in a gymnasium for hours, waiting for the police with a bunch of emotionally charged and apparently violent teenagers.

One of whom might be a killer.

"Selina, I'm sor-"

A loud whistle rings out and I see the four security guards yanking apart the boys and herding the girls away.

We look over at the dais and see the blonde teacher, standing beside Principal Row and yelling in a soft, soothing voice, "Children, please! Please! We know that this is an emotional time for everyone, but please for all of our sakes, try to remain calm."

The security guards are busy herding kids into different parts of the gym. One turns and spots me and Selina and heads towards us.

"Hey, we weren't a part of all of that mess!" Selina hisses, and I feel her digging her clawed glove into my arm.

"Selina…" I start cautiously, and the security guard shakes his head at us.

"Doesn't matter _who_ was a part of it. We need to keep everyone under control."

The guard reaches for Selina and before I can say a word, she angrily swipes a claw at him and deeply scratches his hand.

"Ahhhh!" the guard screams as he holds up his bleeding hand.

Then, pulling out a gun and pointing it squarely at Selina, he yells:

"_She's got a knife_!"


	11. Chapter 10 - In-Out

**10\. In/Out**

Her: 

_Uh-oh._

I didn't even think. The idea of that bozo putting his hands on me or Bruce when we had nothing to do with this shit, pissed me the hell off!

But, considering that there was a stabbing earlier, I guess I _should _have thought twice about it.

The guy is pointing a gun at me now, which is getting me even madder. But I can't take him down from this distance. So, I try to steady my breathing and calm down. I look over at Bruce and see him holding his right hand out in a pacifying gesture.

"I'm sorry, sir." Bruce says and eases his way in front of me slowly. As he does, he gives a subtle signal by wiggling the fingers of his left hand behind his back, which I understand. I quickly peel off the glove and shove it in the lining of my purse. Though, I'm not sure what good it'll do now.

"_You_ didn't do anything. Get out of the way, young man!" The guard yells keeping the gun on us, "She needs to be handcuffed."

_Like Hell! _

For Bruce's sake, I am trying to stay calm, but there's only so much I can take. I scan the room for any way outta here, because if that guard comes near me, I am getting out both of my gloves and carving him up.

"No, sir, please. She's just a little jumpy because of everything that's happened and _that_ really is my fault," Bruce says pointing towards the guard's hands.

I am wondering what in the world he could possibly think he could do to settle this, when Bruce holds out his left hand and shows the guard a small sharply-edged metal comb.

"She's had a troubled past with…older men." Bruce lies, convincingly. "To help her feel safe, I always keep this metal-toothed comb with me. We worked out that it could be used as an emergency weapon if ever needed."

_Damn! He's good._

I glance around Bruce's shoulder and see the guard's gun wavering. There are a few other guards nearby regarding him skeptically. "Surely, you can understand, sir, why, based on her past...experiences she would become defensive at the idea of _unwanted_ touching." Bruce says with a slightly regretful and emotional tone.

_Wow._ If I didn't know the truth, Bruce would even have me convinced. And honestly, I want to be annoyed by this violin song, but it's way better than being handcuffed or having to take out that security guard with dozens of witnesses.

And aside from the faked concern, there was also a slight edge to Bruce's voice that held a definite warning. And the message was clear: this guy tries to touch me again and billionaire Bruce Wayne will have his head.

And plain old Bruce will probably help me kick his ass.

The guard doesn't look totally convinced, but he finally lowers his gun as Principal Row's voice booms from the dais,

"Alright, Officer Crews, leave her alone." The principal squints over at me and Bruce. "Please, have a seat, you two. _At_ the very least!"

I have the sudden urge to stick out my tongue to the crowd of brats confined to the sectioned groups, but I don't. Bruce and I head over to a table and sit down.

Him:

It took everything in me not to pummel that guard into the ground after he pointed his gun at Selina. But, with the whole room staring at us, as usual, I had to be the cooler head for both of us. We're stuck in this gym for who knows how long and trying to solve a murder. We can't afford to draw any unnecessary attention.

And speaking of…

"Selina!" I whisper-hiss. "What the hell are you thinking?! We're not in a Gotham alley somewhere. These people have lawyers and they will _use_ them!"

Selina crosses her arms and shakes her head.

"I doubt that security guard is being paid enough that he can afford a full-time lawyer like the rest of these snobs."

"I wasn't talking about him." I say, and I gesture back over to the kids nearest the entrance "Don't think I didn't notice those girls grabbing for their ankles earlier. You _stabbed_ them!"

Selina tries to look innocent but instead only manages to look angry at being caught. "Correction: I _poked_ them. And I didn't have a choice! They would have stomped me to death with their gold-tipped stilettos."

I shake off my annoyance and say "Look, just have a breather, alright? We don't need any more trouble in here tonight."

Selina's face breaks into a smile and a laugh escapes before she can stop it. She covers her mouth and glances over at the guards, but they don't seem to notice.

"'Have a breather', Bruce?" Selina says leaning towards me and shaking her head. "Who says that?"

I try not to, but the smile comes against my will. Alfred. Alfred says it. But that's not the point. The sentiment stands.

"Selina, please. Now is not the time."

"Alright, alright. Whatever you say, _Grandpa_."

I look up at the clock again and then down at my watch.

11:45 pm is the correct time and the wall clock is now 10 minutes behind.

"OK." I say, pulling out my wallet. I unfold the micro-thin slip of paper that was the size of a business card. Another of Lucius designs, it's so thin that it looks easy to tear, but is actually as durable as steel. It could double as a knife in a pinch. "Let's use the time we have left to go over what we know now."

The basics. We have to cover the basics.

"Apparently, Brant was bullying AJ."

"Surprise, surprise." Selina says, rolling her eyes. "Guys like that seem to think bullying kids is some sick rite of passage."

"Yeah, well. I doubt he bullied him, but VJ was certainly no fan of his either. He says he isn't sorry he's dead."

Selina raises her eyebrows, "Do we have a winner?"

I gaze back over at the group of guys who've been separated from one another and shake my head. "I don't think so. Actual killers usually have more sense than to spout out about how glad they are that their victim is dead."

"True."

"Also, apparently there's a set of Falcone twins here. I met one, his name is Johnnie."

"I saw the other one!" Selina says with a joyous smile. And I recall briefly seeing the girl who looked like Johnnie as well. She was holding back Celestia.

"Great! What's her name?"

"I, uh…missed that part."

"Really…? Then how could you be sure she was the other twin?" I ask deadpanning.

As usual, Selina seems to miss my subtle attempt at humor. She squints at me, annoyed. "I have eyes, Bruce. She _looks_ just like him."

"Reasonable." I concede and add "But, it really sucks that you broke your streak."

"What streak?"

"Knowing the name of every girl who seems important to this plot."

Selina blanks at me for a minute, confused and then realizing what I mean, she shakes her head with a wry expression. "Shut _up_, Bruce."

"Alright, so that's what I have." I say with a laugh "What did you find out?"

Selina smiles and rustles her hand through her curls shaking them so that they fall wildly around her shoulders.

Her hair, those eyes and that smile.

_Damn._

As usual, I have to catch my breath. Even covered in dust and sweat, Selina Kyle is still the most beautiful woman in this room.

In every room.

"So, Harleen's out." Selina starts, crossing her arms. "She's shorter than me and wouldn't have had the strength to do it. And safe to say the same about that Dinah chick, the one who screamed?" Selina shakes her head. "She clearly doesn't have the stomach for it."

Dinah. I recall her shivering against Oliver's shoulder after her blood-curdling screaming. And she wasn't truly a suspect anyway.

But the other one…

"Who's Harleen?"

"Some preteen with pigtails. She's got to be like 12. 14 at the most. But Crystal brought her because her mom's dating some dirt-bag. She didn't wanna leave the kid alone with him."

"I see." I say, "Not exactly ideal that a child is here. But I agree with your assessments. They seem unlikely culprits."

"Right. And I think Crystal's out." Selina says continuing to tick off the names on her fingers. "Celestia, I'm not too sure about."

I regard her quizzically, sure she misspoke. "You mean that Celestia's out and Crystal's in? Right?"

"Wrong, Babe." Selina says casually, and I smile slightly, sure she doesn't realize what she just called me.

"Celestia was Brant's date for the evening, but _says_ she was in the photo booth when it happened which I haven't been able to verify. Crystal was dancing with him right before his untimely doom."

I try to determine if I've missed something, recounting what she's told me, but it still makes no sense. "If Celestia was Brant's date, but he was dancing with Crystal, why is Crystal out and Celestia in?"

"Because, Celestia had a motive." Selina says, and pulls something out of her clutch, covering it with her hand and then sliding it across the table.

"Brant was cheating on Celestia with Crystal."


	12. Chapter 11 - A Break in The Case

**11\. A Break in The Case**

Her:

Bruce gazes down at the card that I've slipped across the table.

"Where did you get this?" Bruce asks, holding up the plastic key.

"Crystal's pocket. Remember when I told you I saw her taking something off him? That key was the something. I swiped it off her when we were talking earlier."

I can tell Bruce is confused and I force down the urge to smile. Being able to muddle Mr. Know-It-All is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine.

"Selina, you're being unclear. How does _this _prove that Crystal was cheating with Brant?"

"Because Celestia said they were all going to a hotel later, but Tommy was being an asshole and so Crystal had to dance with Brant. Crystal must have given her hotel key to Brant during that last dance and that's why he had it on him when he died. Why else would she go out of her way, during a mysterious explosion in a shaking building, to sneak it off his body?"

I can see the wheels turning in Bruce's head and he gets that sexy, detective glaze, knitting his brow in thought.

"I see. Yes, that makes sense. And it would be pretty stupid to then kill him knowing he has your hotel room key." He adds something to his sheet of paper. "And what about Celestia? Did she know?"

I shake my head and my stomach starts to growl. I thought we'd be at some fancy restaurant by now, so I didn't bother to eat much earlier.

"Couldn't tell. But she was sure putting on a hell of a show if she did know. Crying all over Crystal's shoulder."

"So, Celestia only blamed Tommy because Brant had to dance with his date?"

"Right again, detective." I say and try and remember if there is any criminal underworld food delivery service. Anyone I could radio to smuggle some food into this gymnasium.

_I wonder when they said no one could get through, do they mean **no one**, no one or just no one who's trying to do it legally…_

"Well, that just leaves one question for everyone we've questioned so far." Bruce says looking over the card critically.

"Which is?"

"Where was Tommy at when Brant was killed?"

Before another thought, I look up and see that the groups are scattering. The kids moving in a wave toward the locker-hallway door. "I guess we'll get a chance to ask him. Where's everyone going?"

Him: 

I stand up as we see the kids heading towards the door. "Let's find out."

Tucking the "business card" back in my wallet as Selina takes the hotel key, I notice Oliver Queen and Dinah Lee walking slowly towards the back of the line.

I walk over to them and ask, "What'd we miss?"

Dinah is shrouded with Oliver's jacket and her face is reddened from crying. Oliver looks stoic and mellow. "20-minute stretch and bathroom break."

I stare ahead of the group and see that a guard is opening the doors. Principal Row must have depressed the lock-switch.

_Is that a good idea?_

"The principal sanctioned that?" I ask, and Oliver gives me a perplexed look.

""Sanctioned" it?" he says.

"Yes. Meaning he gave the authorization to unlock the doors?"

Oliver gives me another look, this one of annoyance "I _know _what sanctioned means, guy. I just meant, you speak kind of…weird." He gives me a judgmental smirk, then adds, "For a teenager."

I feel myself faltering a bit. It's been so long since I've been required to engage with "normal" kids that I always forget that I am actually considered "abnormal" around them.

"Oh." I say, "Sorry. I just meant that I…Well, I missed the announcement."

"Bruce," I hear Selina saying and she nudges me as I glance over at her "Don't apologize to that jerk. What right does he have to call you weird? He's the one in here giving out fake names."

Oliver shoots me a look, but doesn't say anything. Dinah glares at Selina and says in a choked-up voice, "What is _wrong _with you? Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners?"

"Yeah. Street manners. Meaning you give just as good as you get. And your boyfriend there, is a douchebag." Selina glances her up and down "And you don't seem too far behind."

"Ollie, can we catch up with the others?" Dinah says and Oliver nods, quickening his pace as they swiftly make their way towards the group near the back of the line.

I guess I should be embarrassed or something. After all, I am the face of Wayne Enterprises and will probably be meeting with Oliver's father sometime next week. But all I can think of is how glad I am that Selina is by my side.

I pull Selina in and kiss her cheek gently. "What was that for?" she says in a pained tone, but her eyes light up.

"For always trying to protect me." I say with a smile. "Even when I don't need you to."

Selina smirks and then kisses my cheek before pulling back and saying "And that was for you always trying to protect me. Even though I _never_ need you to."

Her:

The girl's bathroom is bigger than my whole place.

It's bigger than _three_ of my whole places.

I wait 'til all of the other girls leave and then make my way out of the stall and wash my hands over the sink that I am almost positive is real ivory.

_I wonder how much I could sell this for if I chipped a chunk out of it... _

"You!" I hear someone hissing and I am shoved into the sink.

"Ow!" I huff, rubbing my stomach where I slammed into the counter. "What the hell is your problem?" I say and turn to see Crystal standing there, staring at me, her eyes full of fury.

"I _know _you took my hotel key. I thought I felt something when you were standing by me and you're the only one who would do something so grimy. Now, give it back!"

I feel my fists curling up. It's instinctive when people touch me. I hate it…_hate_ it. And this girl is a cupcake. I could kick her ass so bad that she'd never even be _able_ to put her hands on anyone again.

But…

...Bruce.

I think about Bruce and how he had to handle the guard with the handcuffs and my fists uncurl automatically.

_It's not worth it. _

Plus, she has a point. I did take her key.

"Fine, you're right." I say, and I reach into my purse and pull the card out. "Here's your stupid key."

"What is _wrong_ with you?" Crystal says, snatching the key from my hands "You're here with the richest man in Gotham. Why would you need to steal a hotel room key?"

God, I'm pretty sure she's not the killer, but this girl is really getting on my nerves. "I wasn't "stealing" your key. I was borrowing it."

Crystal's eyes go skeptical, as she crosses her arms, "What _possible_ reason could you have for doing that?"

"I was just trying to figure out what possible reason _you_ would have for swiping something off of a dead body." I say plainly and her gaping mouth clams up immediately.

"I-I…U-uh…"

"Don't worry. I couldn't care less that you were sneaking around with your best friend's guy. I was just curious is all." Then, feeling that extra pang from her earlier shove, I lean toward her and add in a steely tone "But, touch me again? And I'll be sending your ass to meet up with him."

Crystal shivers, backing up slightly and I smile. I turn and glance in the mirror, giving my curls a quick spruce before I make my way out the bathroom.

I narrowly miss bumping into a guy and he reaches out steadying himself with my shoulders.

_What kind of a jerk does that...?_

Looking up at him, I see that it's Bruce's friend, Tommy.

Ah, this kind of a jerk.

"Ms. Kyle?" Tommy says and steps back surveying me up and down. But it's not a leering look, more like he's studying me. "You're Bruce's date."

"I am. And you're Bruce's party friend."

"To be fair," Tommy says, shoving his hands in his pockets "We haven't partied together in quite a while." His smile turns suggestive. "You two on the other hand…"

I think about Bruce again. How he has to see this kid, all of these kids on a regular basis and I let it go.

"What Bruce and I do isn't your damn business." I say and step aside to pass him.

"What exactly do you see in him?" Tommy says in a low tone, stepping back and to the side so that he's blocking my path. I consider kicking the shit out of this guy. Pretty sure I didn't like him from the first moment I laid eyes on him, but now he's giving me_ serious_ creeper vibes.

"What's it to you?"

Tommy shrugs, "Just curious, really. I've only ever seen Bruce hanging out with…a _bunch_ of different girls, actually." His eyes travel over my body again, "But, not a single one of them was even a_ little_ bit like you."

I step back and cross my arms. This guy is a real asshole, and now I _really_ consider kicking his ass.

But instead, at his mention of Bruce with "a bunch of different girls", I decide to go ahead and put him in his place.

"Bruce is kind. He's thoughtful and determined," I move towards him and smirk "And he could kick _your _ass six ways to Sunday."

Not that I'd ever need him to. I could take this guy myself.

"You sure about that?" Tommy says, but his tone changes just a little harshly and his eyes flicker coolly in the glow of the light from the bathroom.

"A hundred percent." I say. "And aside from all of that, he's got more going on in his brain than you and all your smarmy asshole friends put together."

Tommy smirks, "So, you like a man with a brain, huh?"

"I do." I say and as I shove past him, I add "And compared to the rest of you? Bruce is a _freaking_ genius."

As I head back towards the gymnasium, Tommy calls out in an eerily calm tone, "Well, you just be sure and remember what Aristotle said about genius, Ms. Kyle."

I do my best to tune him out, but he finishes, "'There is_ no_ great genius without a mixture of _madness!_'"

Yep. That clinched it…

I _really_ don't like that guy.


	13. Chapter 12 - Exploratory Research

**12\. Exploratory Research**

Him:

I broke off from the group as they were heading into the bathroom. Principal Row was talking to a guard about keeping an eye on us to ensure that we stayed in the entrance hallway only.

So, of course, I was able to slip past them easily.

I only have about 18 minutes, so I will have to move quickly.

As I make my way down the second locker-lined hallway, I can see that although the outside of this building is fully back to normal, the interior is still very much under construction.

There are doors with caution tape slathered across and gripping several of the handles, I find that almost all of them are also locked. Every elevator and staircase to the second floor is cordoned off, so that's all off limits.

Putting on my glasses, I gaze up at the ceiling trying to see if there is evidence of any exit, but there's not. In fact, the ceiling, the stairs and many of the walls are strewn with signs declaring "wet paint".

Looking down at the stairs, I swipe my fingers across and see that this paint is also freshly wet and undisturbed.

Odd. It has to have been hours since it was painted.

_Shouldn't the paint have been dry by now?_

I make my way down the hall until I am at the furthermost room in the building. The cafeteria.

_Curious. _This door is unlocked.

I slide in carefully and gaze around the room. Chairs are stacked on top of tables, so there aren't very many places to hide.

Nevertheless, I pull out my wallet and remove the small knife hidden in its silver medallion.

Having these gaudy accessories as a "wealthy businessman" can truly be the perfect cover.

I sidle around all of the windows and pressing against them lightly not a single one is out of place.

Finally, the door leading outside is also locked.

I sigh and shake my head. _The basics_, I think again and begin to review what I know.

Until our break, the lock-down was initiated and there was no getting out, as the doors were already locked regularly and there are also no broken doors or windows.

So, after my research, I can reasonably conclude that if the killer did not somehow escape through the front entrance, there is no way that they could have escaped through another exit. Not unless they had a key to several doors.

But who would have that many keys?

Besides, the janitor…

_Hmmm. Maybe mopping up that blood wasn't a stupid mistake after all, but a covering of his tracks. _

But, why would _he_ kill Brant Jones? And in the middle of the prom? It doesn't make any sense.

Just as I am considering it further, I hear a loud banging noise.

Automatically, I hold up the knife and turn in the direction of the continued sounds. It's coming from the kitchen.

_Damnit! _

The chairs are stacked, but there's a full counter in front of the kitchen. _And _another exit. It's an obvious route for escape.

_Basics!_

Hoping that my glasses are giving me an advantage over the intruder, I quietly move towards the kitchen, but the sound has stopped. I open the short door and close it behind me soundlessly.

A pot crashes to the ground to my right and I rush towards the sound holding my knife out defensively. I stop short. I pause and sigh, exasperated at the sight in front of me.

Selina sits on the ground, her back against the row of cabinets in front of the kitchen sink, her dress rumpled up near her thighs and her leggings covered in bags of chips.

Loudly chomping chips, Selina stares up at me with a look of bewilderment. "Hey…How did you know I was in here?"

Her:

"I didn't." Bruce says, shaking his head and putting away his wallet knife. He makes his way over to me and slides down against the cabinet doors by my side. "I thought you were the killer."

"I didn't even know the kid, Bruce." I say, deadpanning, "Why would I kill him?" Bruce tries not to, but he smiles and shakes his head again, before tilting it down in thought.

"Seriously though. I was starving. I was thinking to bring you back something, but then I realized that that gym full of brats probably wouldn't like that very much." I say and then hold the chip bag down as Bruce takes a few.

"I went through the entire ground floor of this building, Selina." Bruce says, stacking the chips up carefully in his hand rather than eating them. "The only way out is through the doors and windows that have already been locked for several hours." His eyes light up and he adds "…Or the chef's entrance."

Bruce starts to stand up to check it, but I grip his hand and pull him back down.

"I checked it when I came in here. It's locked."

"When you came in here? How long have you been in here?" Bruce asks and looks at his watch as if it will tell him.

"I don't know. I guess a couple of minutes. But I sure was in here before you were."

Bruce looks indignant, "How can you know that? My movements were soundless."

I shake my head. Bruce's ego. He sometimes seems to think that he's the most resourceful, clever, stealthy person in Gotham. But every now and then, it causes him to miss the most obvious answers.

"Cuz," I say and hold up my clawed glove, "I'm the one who picked the lock."

Him:

We walk back down the hall after Selina manages to hustle several bags of chips into the tulle lining of her skirt.

"We need rations, Bruce." She said, "Who knows how long we're gonna be in here?"

I tried to just hold my tongue, because this_ has_ turned into a hellish night. I'll have to remember to have Alfred compensate Ricorda Il Mio Amore for the reservations.

We've been in here for hours. Our reservation was for eleven and it's well past that now.

Selina walks alongside me, oblivious to the regret churning in my stomach. She found a pack of gum in one of the kitchen closets and pops a piece in her mouth. As she reaches out to hand me a piece, I notice that her nails are decorative. Clear polish with glittering black and silver tips.

_She got a manicure for tonight?_

Selina _hates _manicures, but she got one for tonight.

For me.

I'm absolutely the _worst_ prom date in the history of prom dates.

All those girls dressed up to the nines, waiting to be romanced. And I convince _my_ girl to solve a murder with me.

"Selina…?"

Selina gazes over at me and the moonlight streams in through the window, lighting up her beautiful face. Her eyes widen with curiosity.

"I'm really, really sorry about tonight." I say sincerely. "You didn't deserve to have your prom night turned into this."

Selina gives me a pitying look and the softness returns.

"Bruce, it's okay." She says gently. "It's not like you did it on purpose. This is just you. It's who you are. You see things aren't right and you try and make them right. And I know that, and I accept that."

Although I am sure it's meant to make me feel better, I begin to feel worse. Because as soon as Selina mentions trying to make things right, I remember the janitor and that he needs to be added to the list. I want to mention this but decide against it. A few minutes without the murder hanging in the air are definitely due.

I reach into my left pants pocket and grip my hand around the box. I consider giving it to her now. I was planning to wait until dinner, but dinner clearly isn't happening.

Abruptly, Selina is yanking me onto the side of the nearest set of lockers, her hand against my lips she's saying "Shhhh…"

We stand breathless for a few moments and I hear rustling and then what sounds like a locker door slamming shut. Then footsteps quickly rush back into the other direction.

"Who was that?" I ask, and Selina let's out a deep breath, her expression bewildered.

"It was-"

But in a sudden repeat of the night's earlier events, a piercing scream interrupts us, ringing out from the second hallway leading back to the gym.

Her:

Bruce and I look at each other and then immediately begin racing down the hall. As we pass by the lockers, I count to make sure I don't forget which one to check.

_Set one_

_Set two_

_Set three…_

The shrieking gets louder as we reach the entrance and its coming from the gymnasium.

The principal is standing in the doorway and the rest of the room is crowded behind him. Brant's body has been covered by a tarp.

The shrieking stops, but looking around the room, I can't see the source or the reason for it.

Then, one of the guard's shoves past us and Principal row. A look of pain takes over his face and he yells "Serene?! **_Serene!_**" and rushes up on the dais scooping the woman up in his arms.

It's the blonde teacher from earlier. Her lips are still blood red, her hair is still golden silk. She's still slight and doll-like. Only now her cheeks are shock-white and she's limp and pale.

With an arrow in her chest.


	14. Chapter 13 - Airwaves

**13\. Airwaves**

Him:

My eyes land on the clock again.

_That clock has slowed down even more. _

The correct time is 12:14 am.

Then, I am scanning the room. The other guards are all slowly nearing the guard who is clinging to the body. The kids are in clusters nearby, but there is no extreme group reaction like the one to Brant's body. Except from that guard.

Others in this room have an advantage over me, I now know her first name and remember that she was a teacher, but I know nothing else about her and least of all about why anyone would want to kill her.

I glance over at Selina and she's quickly emptying her stash of snacks near the pile of food behind the tipped over tables.

_Second victim of the night. So, the killing of Brant wasn't personal at all…or was it? Is there a connection between these two people?_

Well, one question has been conclusively answered at least. The killer is _definitely_ still in the building.

As soon as Selina is heading back in my direction, I make my way over to the guard.

"I'm sorry, Serene. I'm so, so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you!" the man is saying over and over again, as he sobs into the woman's shoulder.

I try my best to steady my breathing and speak calmly. This woman obviously meant a great deal to him. …But, once again a crime scene is being contaminated.

"What happened?" I ask, as two of the other guards and Principal Row make their way over.

The guard who is holding the woman says nothing, but another guard with a badge on that says Henries answers, "When we got back from the bathroom, she was already gone. Laying here."

"And the connection between them?" I ask, motioning toward the guard holding her.

"She was my _wife_!" the guard huffs out as he whips around. Then he looks me up and down and says, "But what does that matter to you?"

"I am sorry, sir." I say, and I try to remain aware of the sensitivity needed here now. But I would want nothing more than the murder of my loved one's solved. I look at his badge and see the name. "Mr. Cole is it?"

He gives a short nod, his eyes rimmed with annoyance.

"I am_ truly _sorry for your loss…but I am a close personal friend of Captain Gordon of the GCPD. And I feel obligated to tell you that you are possibly destroying crucial evidence by pressing against your wife's body that way."

Cole's eyes about bug out and he looks at his wife again, kisses her cheek and then gently lays her body down.

The guard stands up and turns to me saying coolly, "Aren't you Bruce Wayne?"

"I am."

"And…aren't you over 18 by now…?"

I frown, unsure of where this is going. But, I glance over at Selina who nods quickly though she holds an unreadable expression on her face.

Not knowing what to make of Selina at this moment, I turn back to Cole and answer him, "I am."

"Good!" Cole says and before I can say another word, the guy is barreling into me, knocking the wind out of me as he crushes me with his weight and a guttural scream.

Her:

Poor Bruce. He means well, but his lack of connection with enough normal human beings makes him an easy target, sometimes. He's so freaking smart about everything else. But when it comes to reading highly emotional people? Not so much. It's the reason I knew that guard was about to hit him while he had no clue.

I knew the guard wouldn't be able to get in more than a punch or two, though. And just as I figured, the principal and the other guards are on them almost immediately. But while they're all distracted…

Pulling out the gloves I brought from the snack tables, I step quickly towards the body. I think about Bruce's little upside-down box trick with the gloves, but I don't have much time, so screw it.

I pull on both gloves and kneel beside her.

I examine the teacher's head and face a bit and see that her hair is tousled, and her lipstick is massively smudged. Like _massively_. Almost as if she was struggling against something.

_But who has time to struggle against a shot from an arrow?_

Next, I quickly lift the teacher's shirt.

An arrow to the chest. _Damnit_. Poor lady. That had to have hurt…

…only…

I can still see the upper part of the arrowhead.

_That's weird. _

I lift her up quickly and check around her back, but there's no exit wound.

I check for pockets, but her outfit doesn't have any. Looking down at her left side I see a small purse.

_Bingo!_

Well, hubby over there will likely notice a missing purse, so instead I check inside for a snatch and grab. Inside, I see only her wallet and a blue pen that writes in pink ink. Hmmm, I guess I'll take it just in case it leads to something.

"What are you _do_ing?!" I hear Principal Row hissing behind me.

_Shit._

Subtly slipping the pen into my halter, I slowly stand and then turn towards him.

"I was just-"

"Just _what_?! Tampering with a dead body? Looking for clues like your friend Mr. Wayne was earlier? Doing the work of the GCPD, as we all know that only _teenagers _can do the work of _highly trained officers?!_"

The guy is walking closer to me with each word, but as I haven't taken a step back, he's right up on me now.

"I was just pulling down her skirt so that her business isn't all over this gymnasium!" I yell at the top of my lungs, causing everyone in the room to turn our way...just as I intended. The principal jumps a little, startled by my tone. "And I'm not one of these little charm school chicks you're used to bossing around, so back off!" I hiss and shove him backwards.

The principal seems shocked by my shove and stares at me dumbfounded. Then all at once he's wagging his finger as he stomps back towards me, angrily "You insolent-"

"Enough!" I hear Bruce scream and I turn and see that the guards are holding him and the other guard apart from one another. Bruce yanks away and charges for Principal Row.

"This is the second murder under your watch, Principal Row. Everyone else might be buying that flimsy excuse you gave about that demolition team getting the roads blocked off, but I know better! Now, I need to use your radio-walkie to speak to Captain Gordon!"

"I am _not_ making an excuse, Mr. Wayne. As I have said: There was an ill-timed-"

But, enough is right. Luckily, I'm standing right next to the podium that holds the principal's precious radio-walkie. I yank it off the podium and toss it over to Bruce.

Bruce catches it easily and gives me a brief "Thanks." before he takes off.

Him:

"Hey!" I have time to hear Principal Row yelling, but I am already on my way to cover.

I race to the edge of the gym by the entrance door and slide into the group of guys. Tommy gives me a quick nod and he and Johnnie Falcone head off the principal as I am swallowed into the crowd.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me? I need to speak to Captain Gordon." I hiss into the radio as I drop to my knees in the center of the group.

I hear the principal raving outside of the crowd and I continue maneuvering until I have slipped away from the group of guys and am standing behind the girls' group to their left.

"Bruce?" I hear the graveled voice of Detective Harvey Bullock and praise the universe. "This is Bullock. Jim's a little busy at the-"

"Fine! You'll do!"

"I'll _do_? Well, it's not the best compliment I've had, but certainly not the worst ins-"

"I am at the Anders Prep Prom, Bullock." I say and begin moving against the wall, directly behind the girls as quickly and quietly as I can. Some of the ladies begin recoiling and staring at me like I'm crazy. I ignore them while keeping an eye out for the principal. "Two people have been killed and we need help. There was an explosion earlier and we were told it was a demolition team and that the roads were blocked off. What's really going on out there?"

"Demolition team? No, Bruce there wasn't any demo, tonight…wait, what do you mean two people have been killed? What's going on at that so-called prom?"

"I don't have time to explain, Bullock! But we need you to send help as soon as possible, because the killer is _still _here. If there wasn't any demolition what happened?"

As I am speaking, I see the girls clearing a path and pointing towards me. With an annoyed expression, the principal is making his way over to us, backed by a guard.

_Shoot!_ One of these girls must have given me up. I quickly drop to the ground and scurrying back towards the guy's side, I hurriedly look past their shined-up loafers and across the room for a specific pair of shoes.

"Well, there was-" Bullock begins.

"Wait, Bullock!" I hiss, "Tell me in 10 seconds."

"What?!"

Black high heels with white tips.

_There she is!_

Her:

I feel something hitting my feet and jump back a bit. Looking down, I see the walkie I tossed to Bruce. I lean down and pick it up.

"…sure what kind of signals you and Gordon have, Bruce but…" I hear Bullock grousing.

"This isn't Bruce, it's Selina." I start and back away from the crowds, as I see a guard is just snatching up Bruce from the ground by his collar.

"_Selina?_ What…what is happening? Wait, are you and Bruce Wayne at the prom…_together?!_"

"Not important," I say and realizing that Bruce must have slid this over to me, I turn away and rush back to the locker hallway entrance.

"What were you and Bruce talking about?" I ask and see that just as I thought, the principal didn't have time to re-lock the inner doors with all the commotion about that dead teacher.

"He asked if there was any demo tonight."

I quietly slip out the door. Stopping to take a few moments for my eyes to adjust, I whisper, "And was there?"

"No. But there was a gang war that started up out of nowhere."

I begin racing down the hall and counting the locker sets, like before, but backwards this time.

_Set 4_

_Set 3_

_Set 2_

_Set 1._ Here we go.

Next, I count each one until I get to locker five.

_Bullseye!_

Taking out my hairpin, I hold the walkie against my ear with my shoulder.

"What gangs? I thought you guys took care of all that when you got those non-violence and ceasefire commitments from Penguin and Riddler."

"That's just it. These aren't the big boys. These are some of the lower gangs. They're taking advantage of the reunification policies and the cornered off sections of town to try and claim some unfinished territory and help build up their cred."

"So, the blast we heard? Was it really a building being blown up?"

"Yeah. But not because of demo. Two gangs fighting over primo crime real estate. Wait a minute. Harper, come over here."

Waiting for Bullock to come up with whatever he's after, I jimmy open the locker and see it. A small blue envelope. And right beneath that, a crumpled-up strip of paper. It's a perfect match to the kind torn from that note we got off Brant's body.

_Man! We really didn't think it was __this__ kid._

I shake my head, but shove both into my halter, taking a step back as I hear the voice through the radio.

"Harper here."

"Uh, hi." I say.

"Hi…Bullock said you and Bruce were asking about the demo story?"

"Story?"

"Yes. It's what Jim told that Principal to tell you guys to keep everything calm over there."

OK. So, the principal _was_ lying, but for a legitimate reason. Alright, at least now we know.

"Is that it?" Harper says.

I think to hang up but try and think of something "Detective Bruce" might ask.

"Um…uh…oh! How long do you think until you guys can get here?"

"A few hours at least. Sorry, but we are dealing with these gang hits all over the city."

"Got it. Thanks for the info!"

I shut the locker and drop the radio. I'll have the principal or his guards come and fetch it.

I turn around and bump right into someone.

"What were you doing in that locker?"


	15. Chapter 14 - Reputation

**14\. Reputation**

Her: 

I step back a bit and examine Crystal. The moonlight streaming in through the windows, she's looking at me quizzically. Her arms are crossed but at least the indignation of earlier is gone now.

_Well, this'll be easy._

"I was stealing. I'm a thief, remember?" I say and start to stomp past her.

"No, wait." Crystal says and holds out her hand against my stomach. I shoot her a death glance to remind her of my warning earlier and she pulls away quickly.

"Sorry…it's just. I-I need to talk to you."

I scoff. My turn to cross my arms. "What for?"

"To explain about the room key."

Oh God. I couldn't give _less _of a damn about the lives of the rich and douchey in this school.

"Look, Crystal. You don't owe me an explanation, alright? I told you that I don't care what you do or who you do it with."

"But, that's just _it_. I _wasn't _doing it with Brant. At least…not anymore."

_Yech!_ "Too much information!"

"It happened once. We were both drunk and one thing led to-"

"I don't care." I say and turn to march as far away as possible.

"But, I do, OK?!" Crystal pleads, and her voice has that wet feel that voices get when the tears are about to choke you.

"Look, Celestia is my _best _friend. I wouldn't just…I'm not that kind of person."

Walking. I _know_ I should be walking but I find my feet stilling. God-damnit.

_Why…why do I care? _

Something in her voice, the tears I guess, makes me turn around.

I heave a deep sigh, but walk back over and tell her, "Look, I get it. I know guys can turn your head around sometimes." I think of a certain brown-eyed bastard who's got me breaking into lockers looking for clues. "Believe me: I get it. But, if you liked the guy and he liked you, it's not for anyone else to judge what you do. Or who you share a hotel room with."

"But we weren't!" Crystal says and quickly reaches into her purse.

I balance on my toes, ready to spring just in case she has a weapon, but instead she's holding out a picture.

Of course, I can immediately see the face, but I take it and step into the moonlight just to keep my heightened eyesight to myself.

A small, chubby baby boy is looking back at me. Curly hair, freckles and those eyes. I look from the photo to Crystal and then back again.

The eyes are the same.

"He's…your son…?"

"Yes." Crystal says and again her eyes are filling with tears. "Mine and Brant's. But Brant wouldn't see him. He wouldn't acknowledge him in any way and held over my head the fact that I didn't want to let anyone here find out I even had a kid. I took a gap year and went away to have him. But, by the time I was due to come back, Gotham was already an island, and no one was here."

Crystal takes out a napkin and dabs at her eyes, breathing deeply. "Now Grady's my "little brother". But, I'm not rich like the rest of these kids...the neighborhood I live in is far from the best. In fact it's one of the worst. And I only got into this school because of a government grant after my dad died two years ago. So, my mom and I needed help, but Brant refused to. Even after I told him I named the baby after his father, he got angry and told me I didn't have the right."

Crystal shakes her head "Brant was just _so _cruel, and I was finally at the end of my rope. So, my mom got a room for me and I was going to introduce Grady to Brant tonight. I didn't tell him what it was for, so I'm sure he assumed it was for…something else. I just said to "use your imagination" and gave him the key." Crystal says, and shivers as if the very idea of Brant ever touching her again makes her skin crawl.

That's good, because it sure as hell makes mine crawl.

"I was just hoping...maybe if he _saw_ the baby, he wouldn't be able to keep turning his back, you know? That he would finally agree to help us out."

"I see…" I say, and hand her back the photo. I search Crystal's eyes for a few moments. They're glossed over with tears and she's practically trembling. And I already know the answer to the question I am trying to silently determine.

Yes. She's telling the truth. So, I guess we can fully cross her off the list.

"Look. I'm sorry to hear about all that, alright? But you still don't owe me or anyone else an explanation. Your life is _your_ life."

"I know." Crystal says, and she gets that pleading look again. "But, I just…I don't want Bruce to think that of me. That I would cheat with someone."

I squint at her. "_Bruce_?"

"Yes. Bruce Wayne is at the _highest_ level of society of Gotham. If word got around through him that I was a…that I slept around, my reputation would be _completely _ruined."

I can't help but scoff with disgust. Just when I am beginning to think that there's more to these kids than meets the eye.

"No worries, Crystal. Your secret is safe with me."

"With _you?_"

I roll my eyes, as I turn and head back towards the gym.

"And I'll be sure to let "Bruce Wayne" know."

Him:

"For the _last_ time: _Where_ is the radio, you juvenile delinquent?!" Principal Row hisses as the guard holds me in place.

"It's in the hallway!" Selina yells from the other side of the gym and we turn to look at her and Crystal as they walk back in from the hallway.

"_What are you doing_?! No one is to be let in or out. We are in a lock-down!" Principal Row says, horrified.

"That's the thing. You forgot about the "lock" part of the lock-down. Left the door open after we came back from the bathroom."

The guard lets me go and a few rush out into the hallway with the principal, while one of them waits by the door.

I wipe the blood from my cheek. Cole really sucker-punched me earlier, but I guess I should have seen it coming. She was his wife after all. And now we'll never be able to get close enough to examine the body.

_Damnit!_

I meet Selina in the center of the floor, as Crystal heads back over to the concentration of girls.

"So, what'd you find out?" I ask, as Selina reaches up and strokes my cheek.

"Are you OK, Bruce?" she starts, but I brush her hand away gently.

"I'm fine. What did you find out?"

Selina gives me a look, but says "There wasn't any demolition, just like you thought."

"I knew it!"

Selina rolls her eyes, "Yeah, Bruce. That's literally what I _just_ said."

I grab Selina's hand and pull her towards the toppled snack tables.

Selina smiles cheerfully, "How did you know I was getting hungry again?"

"I _didn't_." I say and quickly grip Selina's shoulders to stop her from reaching down for the food. This is serious.

"Selina, what did Bullock say?"

Selina quietly growls a bit and ignores me long enough to balance a bag of chips on the tip of her heels and then kick it up into her hands.

My turn to roll my eyes, I let Selina go as she smirks and yanks open the bag.

"He said that a building did block us in. But it wasn't from any demo. Some of the smaller gangs are fighting a turf war in the unfinished parts of town. Happening all over the city."

"God-damnit!"

_So, we __**are **__trapped in here_.

"Alright look, we need to find out if there is a connection between these two murders. Clearly whoever did this is still here. Probably even in this room."

I look around and note the guards, the principal, and the various other kids. Although, we've only interviewed a few, any of the 60 other kids could be involved…

_Basics_, I remind myself.

And assuming that every person in the room is somehow connected to these murders is frivolous. So, for now, we'll stick to the kids that we know have some connection to Brant.

But given the timing of the second killing, I consider that a faculty member could also be involved. I look up and see the principal and the guards walking back in. The principal raises his hand and again locks the hallway entrance door.

I've realized now the functions of the three buttons on the lock-switch. One to lock every single door of this school building, one that opens and locks doors from within the school and one to unlock every single door of the building.

After taking account of the guards and the principal, I grasp that the janitor doesn't seem to be in this room anymore. I realize that I haven't mentioned him to Selina yet.

"We need to add the janitor to the list." I say, and Selina scans the room briefly.

"I don't even _see _the janitor anymore." she says.

"Exactly. Where did he go?"

"Ask Principal Loudmouth," Selina says,

"I will," I say, as I am turning to head in his direction, but Selina calls out, "And while we're adding, you need to add your little "friend" Tommy too."

I turn towards her and I am sure confusion envelops my face "Why? What did Tommy do?"

"He's an asshole."

"If that's a qualification, 90% of the guys in this room would be suspects."

Selina shakes her head, "Bruce, I don't like that guy. He's just…_he's _suspect."

"You mean, he's _a_ suspect…?" I ask, puzzled.

"No, I mean, that you give him too much credit and too much trust when he hasn't earned it."

"I've known Tommy Elliot nearly my entire life, Selina. Believe me, we've had our share of…misunderstandings. I am only giving him credit in that he's given us no real reason to suspect him." I shake my head and glance back over at Tommy's small group.

As I look over, I see that several of the kids are heading towards us.

I suppose I do have to give Selina that we never found out Tommy's alibi for Brant's murder.

Thinking of Selina's accusation, I turn back to her and add. "But as far as "trust" is concerned…on this earth, I trust exactly two people. And Tommy Elliot _certainly_ isn't one of them."

Selina's expression goes from annoyed to somewhat satisfied and giving me a curious expression, she says, "I know Alfred's one." She crosses her arms with a playful smirk, "Who's the other?"

I furrow my brow "I'll find out what Tommy was up to when Brant was killed." I say, dismissing the inquiry and then add "But, he was with the group when Mrs. Cole was murdered. So, at the very least, you're suggesting that there are two separate killers. I just don't think that's the case."

Selina stares up at me for a few moments and we communicate wordlessly. Her eyes asking who the second person I trust is and mine refusing any further clue.

Selina gives her signature snort, which is a strange mix between a sigh and a growl before her eyes light up.

"Oh! I almost forgot-" she chomps into the last of her chips and then tosses the bag aside, "I looked at the body for you when I knew that guard was about to slug you."

I am sure my eyes widen, "You _knew _he was about to punch me-?!"

"_And_," Selina says, ignoring my question completely, "I found out a few things."

I rub the cheek which I am sure is reddened at this point. At least something good came of it.

"Why didn't you guys tell us there were snacks over here?" Bully says, as he and the other guys come up on us.

I hear Selina's familiar low growl at the idea of the kids getting their hands on her hard-won snacks, but we don't have time for this.

I give a brief nod of acknowledgement to the guys and then maneuver Selina backwards until we are both slamming against the nearest wall to the left of the room.

"Bruce, what are you-"

Selina begins, but I seal off her words with a hard, passionate kiss.


	16. Chapter 15 - Weird

**15\. Weird**

Her:

Bruce presses his lips into mine and I am dizzy almost instantly.

His scent. His arms encircling me. His left hand tracing its way lazily through my curls.

Bruce hardly ever kisses me. And whenever he does, It's always slow and deliberate. Never like this. Hard and spontaneous.

Except for the one time at Gordon's wedding.

Still. It's nice to be treated like someone he wants once in a while. Someone he desires. Dating Mr. Morality would get a bit boring if I wasn't willing to make the first move all the time.

But not this time.

Bruce leans into me deeper and I feel his breath quickening as his hand gently caresses my face.

_Wow..._

Just as I am moving my arms from his face to wrap around him, Bruce pulls away and whispers harshly into my ear.

"Wh-What did you find out?" he says and though it seems he's trying to sound stoic, he is a bit breathless.

My head is spinning… "W-what?"

"When you examined the body earlier?" Bruce says clearing his throat, his eyes darting away from me for a moment, seemingly ashamed, "You, uh…you said you found something." He finishes and backs away from me, his lips reddened a bit from the kiss.

Man. Leave it to Bruce God-Damned Wayne. I should have known he would never actually _actively _kiss me that way. It was just a distraction tactic to move us away from the other kids.

I should shove his ass away from me. Have him spend the rest of the night solving his dumbass murders by himself. But I can't let him know how pissed that just made me. At least not right now.

I glance around his shoulder and see the other kids eating my food and the principal chatting into the walkie again, but no one is looking our way.

_At least it worked…I guess._

"That teacher wasn't shot by an arrow." I say.

"What? We saw the arrow sticking from her chest."

"Duh, Bruce! I am saying that she wasn't _shot_ by an arrow. Someone stabbed her with it."

"Hmmm, that's odd…"

"You're telling me. And her hair was a mess and her lipstick was smudged. Like she'd struggled against someone and they covered her mouth and shoved the arrow into her chest. Someone must have literally sat on top of her and forced it into her."

"Man," Bruce says, and he presses his hands, each on either side of my head, against the wall. "What a painful way to die."

"I'll say."

"OK…And at least we now know what the triangular shape in Brant's chest was. It must have been an arrowhead."

"But those are diamond-shaped."

"Right. But based on the angle of the wound, it must have been collapsed a bit so that it looked like a triangle. If I had a chance to do a more thorough examination, I would have seen it sooner."

"So, someone's walking around and just stabbing people with arrows? Who would do that? And why?" I ask.

"To find that out, we have to find out if there is a connection between any of these students and Mrs. Cole."

Bruce pushes away from the wall and me and surveys the kids who are now over there sinking their diamond capped molars into my chips.

_He'll pay for this crap!_

"But where to start?" Bruce adds.

"Well, Crystal's out for sure." I say. I'll have to figure out an appropriate torment for Bruce later.

"Oh?"

"Yep. She wasn't sleeping with Brant. Just did once and has a kid by him. Even showed me the picture."

"So, the room key was…?"

"Just for a little daddy-son introduction. She didn't want him dead. She just wanted his help."

Bruce shakes his head and his eyes get that angry glaze. "I knew he was an asshole, but to not take care of your own child? That's _despicable!_"

I try not to think of her, but my mind goes straight to my mom. I wish Bruce didn't know me so well, because I only let the mask slip for a second and the sadness crosses my eyes. But he sees.

Bruce always sees.

"Selina, I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean-"

I put my fingers to his lips, "It's okay, Bruce. I know."

Bruce smiles gently and pulls away a bit.

The other kids aren't paying us any more attention. They hardly even seem phased that a second murder took place now that they're eating all my god-damned food.

_I didn't swipe that for those brats!_

The thought of swiping things reminds me of the note.

"Oh, yeah!"

Bruce looks at me quizzically and I reach down into my halter for the note and strip of paper.

Bruce's eyes widen, and an anxious look crosses his face. "Bruce? _Chill_, alright? This wouldn't be the time or place."

Bruce's face reddens, and he stammers "N-No. I-I-I didn't think-"

I would laugh if it weren't so sad that a grown-ass man is still this bothered by the thought of sex. I shake my head as I pull out the paper.

"This is what VJ put in his locker, earlier." I say and then looking at it in the light for the first time, I notice something.

"Holy crap!" I say,

"What?" Bruce says.

I hold up the blue envelope and the pen that I took from Mrs. Cole's body.

"The ink on this envelope: it's pink."

Him:

(Minutes later)

Selina heads back over to the girl's gathering and I walk back over to the guys.

"Well, Bruce," Bully says, patting me on the back "I'd say you've got a little firecracker on your hands with that one." He nods over at Selina and then raises his eyebrows suggestively, licking his lips.

_Selina_...

Yes, the kiss to distract. I guess I didn't really think further about how that would look to the others…and how it would feel for me either.

I tried to keep it what it was, a distraction tactic. But, _actually _kissing Selina that way…? Holding her? Feeling her chest against mine, I sunk into it. I let myself go for a few moments too long until I nearly forgot its purpose. I only knew that I was holding her. _Kissing_ her.

My hand finds its way to my pocket again, as I think about what this night was_ supposed_ to be. A romantic evening with my girl. _The_ girl.

No. _The_ _woman_. The woman who I…

_Damn. Selina really is…everything. _

But, I'll have to handle my feelings about Selina later.

I tune back in to Bully trying to gear up the other guys with his crude comments.

I feel my fist curling and It takes all of my willpower not to lay him out right here.

My own fault. Exposing my pearl to these swine.

Instead, remembering that we have a crime to solve, I laugh amicably and reach around "patting" Bully's back, just as he did mine moments ago. Only, my "pat" holds way more force in the palm of my hand than is anywhere near required.

Bully lurches forward with a heaving gasp.

"You have no idea!" I joke, though I know Bully's nowhere near interested in what I am saying as he coughs up nothing, waiting for the air to re-enter his lungs. Tommy stands by his side rubbing his back soothingly.

"So," I say, my voice dropping all humor as I stare over at Tommy, "You never actually said what _you_ saw."

Tommy gives me a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"When Brant was killed. Were you near him? Dancing? I mean, did you see anyone?"

Tommy's face seems to relax a bit as he nods over at AJ "I was actually getting a drink from AJ when that girl started screaming." He says, and AJ looks up at the sound of his name.

"Oh, yeah," AJ says as though just registering what Tommy said, "He was my last pour of the night. Root beer and lemonade." AJ says, looking me directly in the eyes. He's no longer trembling, but he's still clearly shaken up, his eyes red-rimmed and tired. But his words and demeanor are completely sincere.

Well, that's that. AJ is a lot of things. But a good liar isn't one of them. Selina might not like it, but that takes care of that question. Tommy's out.

"Well," I ask no one in particular, but note Oliver Queen eyeing Bully and then me critically. "Any ideas on what happened with Mrs. Cole?"

"What do you mean, what happened with her?" Johnnie Falcone says, "She was clearly shot through the chest with an arrow."

"I mean, yes, we all saw that. But, why? Everyone agreed that Brant was an asshole, but who would want Mrs. Cole dead. Who in our school, anyway?"

"I think maybe an even better question," Oliver says in a dumbfounded voice "Is what kind of a nut goes around shooting people up with arrows? Especially in this day and age?"

I shake my head, "What does the day and age have to do with anything?"

Oliver scoffs and rolls his eyes "_Guns_ exist."

Leave it to someone like him, whose father's company made 400 million dollars in weapon sales last quarter, alone.

I hate guns. Ever since my parent's death, I have hated guns. I can pick one up and have a few times. Once, I even intended to use one to kill someone. But, ever since then? I avoid them whenever I can and only handle them when absolutely necessary.

I am working towards the day when they never will be.

So, the idea of Queen Industries coming to Gotham and setting up gun factories makes my skin crawl.

"Guns are not the solution to anything." I say, looking directly at Oliver "If anything, they create more problems than they solve."

"Well," Oliver says, eying me confidently "All I'm saying is give me the choice between an arrow and a gun? I guarantee, I will choose a gun anytime. _Always_."

In what world would this kid, whose silver spoon practically falls out his mouth with his every word, his diamond cuff-links shimmering with each unnecessary stroke of his hair, need to choose an arrow or even a gun for that matter? I have not a doubt in my mind that he's never once been in a fight that he didn't initiate.

I've known a thousand spoiled assholes like him, and I'll know a thousand more. What concept of hurt or pain does he have? None. And sad thing is he probably never will.

"Then let's just hope that you don't ever find yourself in a situation where you have to choose." I say, shaking my head.

"Yes." Oliver says, turning to face me with a slight edge to his voice. "Let's."

Oliver and I have a brief stare-off before Bully says, finally reentering the conversation, though his voice is still coming out in gasps. "W-what's it to you anyway, guy?" And lightly nudges Oliver, "This...This isn't your school and she wasn't your teacher."

Oliver smirks and glances over at Bully, breaking our gaze. "True point. From here on, I will keep my thoughts on the matter to myself."

"Good." VJ hisses and I look at him to see his fists curling as he stares towards Mrs. Cole's body and then his eyes find the ground. "Cuz, we don't wanna hear your stupid conspiracies."

"Well, I want to hear one." Tommy says glancing around the circle, with a skeptical gaze. "I'm with Bruce on this one. Who in our school _would_ want Mrs. Cole dead?"

"No one." AJ pipes in and I glance over and see that his eyes are even more reddened than before as he's now openly crying. "Mrs. Cole was the nicest teacher in this whole entire school."

"Yeah." Bully says, "Just ask VJ."

"Shut it, Bullock!" VJ hisses and my eyes cut over to him. His sleeves are damp, and his eyes are red-rimmed with dark circles. He's been crying too, but much harder than AJ or anyone else.

"Why ask you? Was she nicer to you than the others?" I ask, and the crowd erupts with laughter. VJ just sneers at them and then turns and marches in the other direction.

"What was _that _about?" I ask, feigning curiosity.

"You didn't hear it from us," Tommy says conspiratorially, "But rumor has it that VJ and Mrs. Cole were…shall we say,_ closer_ than any teacher and student should be."

I raise my eyebrows and act as though this is news to me "Really…? How do you know?"

"I was back behind the school conducting some…" Bully looks around and briefly pauses on my face before saying "Conducting some…business." He lies. Only business he could possibly have been "conducting" was beating someone up. "And I swear on _everything_, I saw those two kissing." He finishes.

"I told a few of the guys here. It was just too good to not share. The guy is a weirdo. Always wearing that yellow cap and no one even knows his real name. Why in the hell would Mrs. Cole, hottest teacher in the school, want to hang with him, when she could have a stud like me?" Bully finishes flexing his stocky arms as though he's impressive.

I hear Oliver's snicker and turn toward him. "The world may never know, Bully." He says and even though he's got a point, something about this green-eyed kid really gets under my skin.

Something in Bully's statement holds my attention.

"What do you mean, no one even knows his real name?"

"Well, we all know he goes by VJ, because he's Victor Jr." Bully starts and everyone in the group nods. "But he won't tell us his last name. Even doesn't have one in the school's official folders. On homework and everything he's Victor "X" Jr. Weird."


	17. Chapter 16 - Seeing

**16\. Seeing **

Her: 

No clues on this side of the room.

"_Mrs. Cole was so pretty."_

"_Mrs. Cole was so nice."_

"_Mrs. Cole was an annnnnnngggggeeeelllll!" _

Blech.

But not one piece of usable intel.

The most interesting thing about these girls is that they have great taste in jewelry. Ever since Penguin gave me that diamond-which was later_ stolen_, I might add-I've had my eye out for a real beauty that'll replace it.

Much as I hate the girl, and though the most she's said in my presence was a heightened gasp-because she seems to know what's good for her-Silver Saint Cloud is the clear winner of my best jewelry category. She's wearing a diamond choker big enough for me to buy a new house.

_I wonder if I could knock the lights out and choke it right off of her._

"I thought you were my friend!" I hear and turn to see Celestia, who is sitting on a small bench, smacking the shit out of Crystal who's fallen to the ground as she tries to protect her head.

Man! I guess Crystal couldn't keep her little secret to herself.

I rush over because we don't need those dopey guards back over here trying to sort us into groups again.

"Hey, hey! Stop it, alright?!" I hiss and grip Celestia's arm.

"Easy for you to say!" Celestia says and then, I guess realizing who I am, she adds "Yeah, she said that she told you all about it. So, what would _you_ do if she had done this to you?"

Had a baby with Bruce? The thought makes the hairs on my neck stand up.

I look down at Crystal and then back over at Celestia with a serious stare. "I'd scratch her eyes out."

"_Exactly_. So, let me go!" Celestia says and snatches away from me to rear back and hit Crystal again.

I step in front of Crystal. "Look. I get it that you're angry right now, but everybody makes mistakes. Give her a chance, alright?"

"Oh, so that's what you think it was? A "mistake"?!" Celestia stares down at Crystal "Well, let's see if anyone else in this room thinks it was a mistake!"

Celestia turns towards the other groups and starts "Hey everyone! Crystal sle-"

I clamp my hands over Celestia's mouth and shove her down onto the bench. "Shut. Up." I say and squeeze my hand up to her nose so that she can't breathe. Her eyes go wide for just long enough for me to know that she gets that I mean business.

"You done?" I ask.

Celestia nods quickly.

"Good." I look at Crystal, "Go back over there with the others."

Crystal rushes to her feet to amble away. "Hey!" I hiss, and she looks back at me. "From here on: keep your damn mouth _shut!_" Crystal nods softly and rushes off, pulling away the other girls who were making their way towards us.

I hand Celestia a bottle of water from behind the pile of toppled snack tables. "Thank you." she says.

I look at this girl and again note how beautiful she is. Like very. She's thin and pretty, apparently has some status at this place and is popular. Next to Silver, I heard she was a favorite to be voted prom queen.

And aside from all of that…those eyes. They are beautiful too. And they are_ so_ familiar.

She just…she seems to have a lot going for her.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask." I say.

"Ask what…?"

I sit down beside her and look over to see Bruce standing near the dais talking to VJ.

"What did you see in Brant?"

Celestia smiles lightly and then shakes her head "I know everyone thinks he was such an asshole. But he wasn't like that with me. With me, he was sweet. And kind."

I raise my eyebrows "For real?"

"For real. Once he finally got over Grace, he was completely devoted to me…" Celestia trails off "Or at least, I thought he was."

"Look, Crystal told me how it happened. For what it's worth, I think she does feel really bad about it."

"She's not the only one."

"But just because she made a mistake doesn't mean she's not really your friend. Believe me, I know how hard it can be to forgive someone." I think of Bruce again and glance over at him. His sleeves rolled up he's listening to VJ intently with that sympathetic but intense stare.

How many times has he pissed me off…? And how many times has he made up for it…?

"But when it comes to _some_ people? Forgiving them is worth it." I smile, thinking about Bruce again. He's more than worth it. Thinking about the issue at hand, I add "And besides that would you really want to lose your friendship over a guy?"

Celestia sighs but shakes her head slowly "I wouldn't. Crystal really was my best friend. She's not like these other kids. She talked to me before anyone else. She didn't care who my mom was or anything. She just…she liked me _for_ me.

"But why couldn't she just keep it to herself…?" Celestia adds, her eyes tearing up, "Said she was scared. Didn't know if we would make it through the night and didn't want to die with that on her conscience."

Rough one. I mean, I wish the girl had kept her mouth shut, but I guess I can kinda see how this situation might move you to confess something like that.

"But I mean, it had to take a lot of courage for her to say something like that, right? I mean, I think she only told you because she wants you guys to have an honest friendship. To try and make it up."

Celestia wipes her eyes and her expression goes from sadness to anger as she looks over at me "But, I have to ask you again: would you forgive your best friend if they slept with your boyfriend?"

I laugh a little. "Well, that question can't actually work for me…my best friend's not exactly into guys."

"Oh. She's gay…?"

I smile again. ""_She's_" a _he_." I say pointing over to Bruce.

Celestia's eyes widen, "Oh. Bruce Wayne is your _best friend_? I thought you guys were…you know…"

"We are." I nod.

"So…you're dating your best friend?" Celestia says and she almost looks more confused now than when we were talking about Crystal and Brant. "How does that work?"

I laugh again, "It kinda doesn't…and it kinda does." I don't do the label thing. Something that's always bothered Bruce, but I just feel weird calling him that. It feels too…I don't know, vulnerable. "We're just us, you know?"

"Well, I mean I can tell why you started dating him. I mean_ look_ at him…and the money doesn't hurt, I'm sure." Celestia says with a laugh, but adds curiously, "But, I mean how did he get to be your best friend?"

I hadn't really thought past that statement. Bruce just _is_ my best friend. Not really something that I consider much, but I've never connected with anyone else this way. Bridgit was my friend, but she got hurt and went _way_ dark. Now, she's Firefly. And Ivy? Well, after she changed the second time, she went…well, let's just say she's poison. Tabitha is my friend, but not like that. She doesn't _know me_, know me. The names of my cats. My favorite rooftop. My kind of music. My feelings about my mom. My favorite color. _Me._

So, Bruce? He's kind of all I have left.

It's the first time I've ever had to voice why, and I try to do it as honestly as I can. "Well…with everyone else, they always used to look at me like I was…well, street trash. Homeless, an orphan, a criminal or…just something bad. _Anything _bad."

I look at Bruce again and smile softly "With Bruce, no matter what I do, how I act, what I say. Bruce always looks at me like he sees…well, me."

The quiet is a little disturbing, I look over at Celestia and she's looking at me thoughtfully, "And that's enough?" she asks.

I shrug. "It is for me."

Celestia shakes her head "I don't think anyone's _ever_ looked at me like that."

Maybe not. Bruce isn't really like any other people. Neither am I. That's kind of why we can work…

…Sometimes.

"But…I can't just let this go." Celestia says with a deep sigh "Crystal didn't just sleep with my boyfriend, Selina. She had his kid. And Brant was an only child. Do you know what that means? It means that for the rest of our lives, Crystal will have the _only _living piece of Brant left. We never even had sex." She tears up again "He was going to be my first."

Aw, hell.

_Well, you dodged a Brant-sized bullet there, sister,_ I think.

However, before responding this time, I stop and think. About the kid; what he means to his mom, I guess. Maybe everything. But what he meant to Brant? Maybe nothing. I know what he'll probably end up feeling like, later on. Unwanted, discarded.

But Crystal didn't abandon him, she's taking care of him. She has my respect for that. I think about my mom and dad. Both assholes, least far as I know. And I tell Celestia something that I've had to figure out for myself.

"Believe me, I get what you're saying, Celestia. That can't be easy." I think of my mom, "But, just try to remember that sometimes having a kid with someone means one thing and one thing only:" I pause as Celestia looks over at me. "Two people had sex. Maybe unprotected. Yeah, it's irresponsible and yeah it can result in another human life." I pause and double-point up to my face, "I'm living proof of it. But, sometimes, that's _all _it really means. Doesn't mean they were in love. Doesn't even mean they wanted the kid."

It's something I've had to learn to live with. Not the happiest thing to know, but good to know, nonetheless. Helps me remember that there's only ever been one person I can fully count on. Me.

_And maybe just one other…_

Celestia doesn't look as though my words have exactly comforted her but at least she doesn't seem as sad and angry as before. She seems more thoughtful now and maybe…considering?

Realizing that I don't have much more to add here and we still have a couple of murders to solve, I stand up to leave.

As I am walking away, I think of something Celestia said.

"Hey…?" I ask, turning back to her and Celestia looks up at me, "Earlier. What did you mean when you said that Crystal didn't even care about who your mom was?"

Celestia smiles. "Oh, you don't know? Well, a lot of people do say that I look more like my dad. All I really got from her was my eyes."

And just as she says it, I realize where I've seen the eyes before.

_Well, one of them, anyway._

"My name is Celestia Mooney. Fish Mooney was my mother."


	18. Chapter 17 - Bloodlines

**17\. Bloodlines**

Him:

(Earlier)

I glance over and see that Mrs. Cole's body has been covered by a tarp and her husband is now nowhere to be seen. Looks like the principal unlocked the inner doors again, because two of the four guards have exited the gym.

I take the chance to head to the gym's outer entrance and check the door.

Sealed tight, just as I understood it to be. I check the glass on the windows and see that it is indeed the bulletproof-grade glass.

_Hmmm._

It occurs to me just now that this newly disaster-proof school model may serve as just as much of a prison as it does a fortress. I'll have to get someone at Wayne Enterprises to review the safety of this kind of protection measure.

I glance over and see Selina still speaking with her group. A few stragglers are skirting the edges of the room.

I spot Principal Row by his dais and the two remaining guards in random positions across the room. Mr. Cole is back near his wife's body, which is now partially covered by a tarp.

I also see VJ standing near his DJ station, which happens to offer a straight view to Mrs. Cole's body.

I make my way towards Principal Row, and he looks up, seeing me and becomes visibly irritated, "What is it _now_, Mr. Wayne?" he asks using the two fingers of each hand to massage his temples.

"Where is the janitor?" I ask, and an expression of confusion covers the Principal's face.

"The janitor…? He's right-" he says and turns to point near the front entrance, but seeing no one, he finishes curiously. "I…I don't know…"

"That's a first." I let slip and Principal Row gives me a hard look.

"I know this may come as a surprise to you, Mr. Wayne, but I take my job as principal of this school very seriously, just as I have for the last _30_ years. Well, before _you_ were even born. So, you'll forgive me if I have been paying more attention to the status of my young charges, than I have to the _adult_ faculty members!"

I hold up my hands in a show of peace. "I understand Principal Row. And I apologize for any offense, as none was meant. It's only that as you have mentioned quite a bit, we are in a lock-down. So, it's a little strange that the janitor just disappeared."

Principal Row continues to stare at me starkly, before his expression softens, and he concedes. "That is a fair point."

Principal Row signals one of the guards. "As much as I am loathe to agree with you, everyone being accounted for is important at a time like this."

As the guard named Henries approaches, Principal Row nods courteously, "We will get to the bottom of this."

I nod in kind and turn to walk away.

Next, I set my sights on VJ, who is a few yards away.

Tucking my hands into my pockets, I stroll towards VJ, nonchalantly.

"Hey, VJ."

VJ glances over at me angrily, before, I suppose upon seeing my face, his expression relaxes.

"Oh. Hi Bruce."

"Are you doing okay?" I ask, tilting my head towards Tommy's group, "I know those guys can be a bit…much."

VJ scoffs. "That's an understatement."

"It is a little scary though." I say, and VJ raises his eyebrows.

"What is?"

"Well, being stuck in this school with a killer." I turn towards Mrs. Cole's body "And someone who would kill someone like Mrs. Cole. From what I hear, everyone seemed to love her."

VJ nods, "Yeah…they did."

"They?" I ask crossing my arms and feigning shock, "You didn't?"

VJ gives me a blank stare for a few moments, but then his stare is suddenly brimming with tears.

"I did…I _do_." VJ says and as the tears spill, he wipes them on his sleeve again. "Damnit! Why am I such a god-damned idiot?!"

_Alright, now we're getting somewhere._

"Why are you an idiot, VJ?" I ask gently, "What did you do?"

"I kissed her." VJ says, shaking his head and he takes off his yellow hat to wipe his eyes, his sleeves nearly completely damp, no longer serving the purpose.

This kid's head is as shiny as a bulb. Just like his dad, Victor Zsasz. Any doubt I may have had leaves my mind.

Who would have thought Victor Zsasz had a son?

And if VJ wants no one to realize it, why shave his head?

Then again, I suppose no one here would ever make such a connection, being that they live in the world of the wealthy and famous, not the underworld.

And he doesn't look exactly like him, but those eyes are hooded and with the bald head, there's enough of a resemblance to raise questions. Does he love him? Hate him? Want to be him…?

Nurture versus nature flashes in my head before I can stop it, but I think of the Falcone twins and Bully. They're living proof that sometimes it's not that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Sometimes it's just a different kind of apple.

As if he's just realized he's revealing his secret identity, VJ slams the hat back onto his head and his eyes search mine trying to discover if I've realized his secret.

But I have a bigger fish to fry for the moment.

"You kissed "her"? You mean, Mrs. Cole?"

"Yeah." VJ says, hanging his head in shame. "She was helping me out a lot lately. Helping me work through some…family stuff."

_I'll bet._

"I started talking to her one day after school and the next thing you know, I'm talking to her every day. Thinking about her whenever I'm not. Walking her out to her car. Lingering in the hall, skipping the beginning of class, just so I can say hi to her.

"One day, I stayed late to help clean up the meeting room, because the janitor was out again. I ended up walking Mrs. Cole out to her car that night. I thanked her for helping me out. And then I reached out and hugged her. When we pulled back, before I could stop myself, I'd kissed her.

"She was caught off guard and let me kiss her for a moment." VJ says, crying now. "But she was so chill about it. She just pushed me away, told me 'Don't.' and left. She didn't report me, and she didn't make me feel bad about it either." VJ wipes his eyes again, using his sleeve. "In fact, we never even talked about it again.

"Then tonight, she gives me this letter to tell me she was sorry if she gave me the wrong impression. That she wasn't going to ruin the rest of my senior year over it. But that she was my counselor, my teacher and I was her student and that she would never cross that line with me."

"That one kiss though, was it. That was _all _that happened. But, of course _asshole_ over there, sees it. That's my shitty luck." VJ huffs, motioning towards Bully. "Next thing you know, a bunch of the guys think we're hooking up."

Hmmm. This is not quite the confession I was imagining, but it does explain things.

"So, _that's _why she wrote you that letter…" I say, thinking out loud.

"Yeah, that's why." VJ says and then stops and looks at me "Wait a minute. What do you mean, 'So that's why?'" VJ searches my face quizzically, before asking, "How did _you_ know about the letter?"

Shit. I've given up too much. I realize now that it's too late to backtrack and consider the best next move. VJ is clearly a bit of a hothead so instead of taking the off-chance that he'll hold his temper at a quickly-concocted lie, I decide instead on the truth.

"Selina and I are trying to figure out who the killer is, VJ."

VJ's eyes go wide for just a moment, before he nods expectantly as though I've just clicked in a puzzle piece.

"You guys _were _acting kind of strange all night." VJ says and then adds, "Though that's nothing new for you, I guess."

But then he regards me again, curiously. "But that still doesn't explain _how _you knew about the letter."

I pull the note from Brant, Mrs. Cole's letter and the strip that Selina gave me out of my pocket.

"We got this part off of Brant's body. The bottom was torn off and we thought that the missing strip might explain the kill. Selina saw you putting this and the letter into your locker and got them both out."

"_Your girl went through my locker?!_" VJ whisper-yells, angrily.

"Not "went through", exactly. She just got this."

I hold up Brant's original note with the completed torn strip for him to see.

It now reads:

_Pick up tux_

_Head to Tommy's_

_Get condoms_

_Pick up Celestia_

_Shoot VJ a note to check up on our arrangement._

VJ shakes his head, but he seems calmer as he takes Mrs. Cole's letter from me and slips it into his pants pocket.

"So, what? _I'm _one of your suspects?"

"Were." I say matter-of-factly, "Depending on if you can explain what exactly the "arrangement" was."

"Blackmail, Bruce." VJ says with an angry sneer.

"Blackmail…?"

"Brant was threatening to go to the principal about my…"relationship" with Mrs. Cole if I didn't procure certain…_candy_-of the nose variety-for him."

I shake my head. "Why did he need _you_ to procure that?" I ask, as it makes little to no sense. Being a billionaire, millionaire or even just having a few bucks in Gotham, you can acquire any illegalities that you want.

Hell, you can have them delivered to your home.

"He didn't! He was just a_ sick_ bastard who enjoyed having something to hold over my head. He knew I was in love with Mrs. Cole because I wasn't exactly the best at hiding it. So, he used it to his advantage every chance he got!"

I roll up my sleeves a little, suddenly feeling rather warm. I glance around the room and then down at my watch.

12:56 am.

"So…Brant's note…?" I ask and VJ shakes his head again.

"Brant came up to me telling me how he was just checking his list for prom. Wanted me to see if he missed anything. Once I read the note, I was about to rip it up, but he snatched it away from me, so that I only got the bottom."

As I walk away, a part of me is genuinely glad to have crossed VJ off the list. He might be angry, and his father might be a lowlife assassin, but he seems like a genuinely honest kid.

I just hope he has a chance to make good in life.

I spot Selina making her way away from Celestia and back towards her group and I catch her eye and motion for her to meet up with me.

"So, what did you get?" Selina asks.

"Wasn't any of those guys. Tommy was with AJ by the punch table and VJ only had that part of the note because he snatched it away from Brant."

"OK. So, Tommy's out and so is VJ. For my side, Celestia didn't know before about Brant, so she would have had no reason to kill him. And Mrs. Cole has no connection to any of them."

"Mrs. Cole _is_ connected though. Brant was blackmailing VJ about her." I say and explain about what VJ said happened.

When I finish Selina gives me a puzzled look. "But who else knew about the blackmail?"

"No one that I can tell." I say and realize that the connection doesn't seem to matter after all.

But, if the connection doesn't matter, then _why_ kill them? Those two people who just happen to be connected?

We stand for a moment in thoughtful silence until Selina slaps my shoulder. "Bruce! You're never gonna guess whose daughter goes here?"

I smirk in kind, "You'll never guess whose son."

"Fish Mooney."

"Victor Zsasz."

"Wow, Zsasz can have kids? I just assumed he considered his gun collection his children."

I want to laugh but VJ is actually a pretty decent guy, from what I can tell.

"Fish Mooney's daughter…?" I ask.

"Celestia."

I nod. I can see it now of course.

So, we're in the room with Fish Mooney's daughter, Zsasz's son, a pair of Falcone twins, and Silver Saint Cloud-but not a _single _one of them is the killer?

Selina runs her hands through her curls and then fans her face with her hand. "Is it me or is it getting-"

"Hotter in here?" I ask.

Selina nods and we glance around. I see the other guards back in the room and as they give a nod the Principal shakes his head but re-locks the door in what seems a compliance with the guards' assessments.

Scanning the room, I see that the janitor is still nowhere to be found.

"Someone must have turned up the temperature." I say, regarding one of the guards curiously.

_Was he always so short?_

"What for?" Selina asks, "Are they trying to cook us?"

I shake my head and we both head towards the principal who is once again standing on the dais.

Suddenly, the room goes black again and after we both still, a loud repeating sound causes my blood to run cold.

It is the sound of multiple gunshots.


	19. Chapter 18 - Pandemonium

**18\. Pandemonium**

Her:

_Just_ Great!

Now someone's got a gun. I was _just _thinking about how things could actually get just a little bit worse if only we had some shooting.

The lights buzz back on and the kids start racing for the doors again, but then the lights are out again. Just as my eyes adjust to the darkness, another round of shots rings out.

Bruce and I turn towards the sound of the gunshots and there's an isolated scream, as I see Crystal stumbling out of the photo booth.

The lights quickly flicker on and off, over and over and my eyes begin to hurt.

"_Bruce_? What's happening?" I ask, shielding my eyes.

"I don't know." Bruce says. He's wearing his night vision shades again but there seems to be no effect to his sight, from the lights flashing on and off. I'm sure it's some kind of new Wayne Tech bullshit.

"But it ends _now!_" I hear Bruce hiss, his voice an angry, determined growl.

"Let us _out of here!_" I hear someone scream and finally close my eyes completely, as the shooting has stopped, but the lights are still flicking on and off.

Bruce grabs my hand and guides me over to the left wall, where the tables are.

"Stay here." He whispers, and I release his hand as I feel the lights continuing to flash around us.

Finally, the flashing stops. Slowly opening my eyes again, I see that the lights are back on and Bruce is racing back towards me with his jacket.

Kneeling down in front of me, and behind the tables, Bruce rips the silver lining of the jacket and reveals a compression compartment. A gift from Lucius, no doubt. And it's the same silver lining he had put into my purse so that I could smuggle in my claws.

"_Silver_ lining, Bruce?" I ask, stooping down beside him. "Could you _be_ a bigger dork?"

Bruce squints over at me, "You told me your colors were going to be some combination of black, white or grey, Selina. I wasn't trying to be clever. Just wanted to be sure that we matched." I shake my head again, though I guess it might be romantic under different circumstances.

Bruce zips down the other side of the jacket and there are little elastic holders for the items he just pulled out of the lining. There's a smoke bomb in a small canister, one of his silver knife combs, a mini grappling hook, a small roll of duct tape and another pair of the night glasses.

"Take these." Bruce says handing me the glasses, as he lines the jacket for easy access to the other items. I snap the glasses into my clutch. My eyes are fine for now.

Bruce shrugs the jacket back over his shoulders and buttons it partially.

"You _bitch_! You killed _**her**_!" I hear and looking over I see Tommy Elliot near the photo booth shoving Crystal backwards.

Alright. That's it.

_Wrong move, asswipe._

I leap to my feet and though I hear Bruce calling me to stop, I ignore him and race towards the other kids.

Thinking about my own little compression gift from Lucius, I click the tiny black jewel and as it expands, I unwrap my compressed whip from my waist. I give it a quick extending snap to ensure that it is fully expanded and rush towards Tommy.

I smile, as I can just imagine the sound it would make when that idiot's neck snapped.

As I come up on the group surrounding Crystal, I quickly flick out my wrist and wrap the whip around Tommy's neck.

The sound of his gargles for air make me smile and I tighten it just a little bit more.

"Touch her again." I say, nodding over at Crystal. And Tommy's eyes start to bulge, as the other kids look on in shock.

"Go ahead." I mock, remembering his disgusting eyes tracing me in the hallway earlier tonight "Just. _Try._ It!"

"Selina!" I hear Bruce yelling and I roll my eyes as he nears us.

_Ugh._

Here comes Mr. Morality to the rescue.

Him:

"Let him _go_, Selina!" I shout and grip onto the hand that is holding the whip.

"Bruce, I _told_ you this guy is an asshole. He deserves it." Selina says, tightening her whip,  
"He shoved her." She adds motioning to Crystal.

Glancing down at her, I see that Crystal's pink dress is splattered with blood and her fingertips are covered in black dust. Clearly there's more to this story. Selina just wants a reason to hurt Tommy.

"Selina? _Let_. _Him_. _Go_." I harsh out and my fingers tighten around her hand. I wouldn't hurt her, but I know the command pressure points in the hand, and I begin to apply a bit of pressure to just the right one.

Selina reluctantly releases the whip and Tommy. Tommy gasps deeply for a few moments while Johnnie and the others pat him on the back.

"She-she _killed_ her." Tommy says, and I look again at Crystal's dress.

"I didn't. I-I…" the girl stammers, her face is white with terror.

"Who?" I ask and head over to the photo booth.

As I pull back the curtain, the scene is horrific. The booth is splattered with blood, and Celestia is leaned over to the left, her entire upper body riddled with bullet holes. I can hear the principal and the guards coming over and take a few moments to gaze around the crime scene while I'm undisturbed.

"Handcuff that young woman!" I hear the principal commanding and can only imagine that he's referring to Crystal.

But…something is not adding up.

"Sorry, Gordon." I say, and breaking the cardinal rule, I turn Celestia's face a bit to examine her.

The blood is seeping downward; there's no angle to the streams. The cluster of bullet holes have clearly come from directly ahead of her.

I glance at the "Press Me!" button and see a scattering of black residue. I lean down and smell it. Gun powder.

_What the…?_

I scan the booth and see the small delivery tray. Snatching up the strip of photos, I see the girls smiling at the camera. Their eyes red-rimmed, as though they were both crying. The second with them looking at one another, holding each other warmly. The third there's a bullet in Celestia's chest and Crystal is screaming and the last one, more bullets in Celestia and Crystal's hands covering her ears a look of shock on her face.

No way she killed her.

But then…who…?

I scan the booth again and look up and see it.

To the undiscerning eye, it would appear a second camera lens. Only now, the lens has been shattered by a bullet.

Instead, the lens was actually covering the end of a gun barrel.

_Bingo._

Her:

"I didn't _kill _anyone!" Crystal screams, but the guards cuff her anyway and she starts sobbing. I look over and see Bruce leaned into the photo booth.

"She was the only one in there with her." Silver says, and I give her a hard stare. I thought she knew to keep her lips zipped for this _entire_ evening.

"I _am_ sorry, young lady. Your innocence or guilt is for the authorities to decide. But, all of these witnesses agree," Principal Row says motioning to the group. "And I cannot allow _anyone else_ to be killed on my watch."

"Don't worry," I hear and look over to see Oliver rearing up behind the principal. Just as the principal turns around, Oliver sucker punches him in the face. As the principal topples over Oliver says, "No one else is going to be."

The guards try to lunge for him, but Oliver quickly pulls out a gun and points it in their direction before any of them have a chance to go for theirs.

_Wow_. I knew this guy was an asshole, but I didn't exactly take him for a gun-wielding asshole.

Several kids scream, but Oliver says "Calm down, guys. I had absolutely _nothing_ to do with the shooting. This was given to me by my father for my protection. He _rightly _assumed that _even_ a **prom** could be dangerous ground in a place like Gotham."

I would wonder how he managed to get that gun in here…But then, if one billionaire boy has metal-detector shielded lining, why couldn't the other one?

"Whatever the case, I am not waiting around in here to be the next victim of this killfest." Oliver starts then, pointing the gun over at the guards, he demands, "Now open those doors!"

"But…we're in a lock-down." The guard from earlier, named Crews, says. "They only open via the lock-switch."

Oliver nods at his girlfriend, Dinah and she holds out her hand to the principal. Principal Row is trembling, but he hands Dinah the device.

Dinah hands it to her guy, and Oliver presses what I guess is the "OPEN ALL" button. Unlike before, when the Principal opened only the doors within the building, we can now hear the sound of every door—including the entrance door—unlocking.

I look over and see several kids, including the female Falcone twin, already nearing the front door and they yank it open.

Oliver screams, "_**NO!**_" but he's too late, as immediately all of those kids are swallowed up by rubble.

Him:

The sound is sudden and earsplitting.

Rocks crushing flesh.

"Lucia!" I hear and pull out of the photo booth to see Johnnie Falcone and the others racing towards the rubble still spilling into the door.

"Lucia!" Johnnie screams again as he falls to his knees and frantically tosses crumbled rocks aside. Lucia must be his twin sister's name.

"You _freaking_ idiot!" Someone else yells and I look to my left to see Bully punching Oliver Queen in the face. Oliver falls to the ground and a bullet rings out. There's a scream and I look to see that the principal has been struck in the leg by the errant bullet.

_God-damnit! _

Bully and Oliver wrestle for control of the gun.

"Stop it! _Stop it!_" Oliver's date yells and I see Selina is now directly in the line sight of the gun.

_No!_

I rush towards the two of them and yell "Selina?!"

Selina looks at me and then follows my eyes to the guys. Seeing the gun, her eyes go wide before fury overtakes them.

Selina side-flips over and lands directly beside Oliver and Bully's hands. She raises her heel and then stabs it into Bully's hand. Bully screams and rolls off of Oliver, gripping his own hand in pain. Just as Oliver tries to sit up, I sock him in the face, knocking him out and then snatching the gun from his limp hand.

I turn and slide the gun away from us a safe distance.

"What are you _doing_?!" I hear Dinah screaming and as I turn, she reaches back to strike me, but Selina's whip encircles her hand.

"Let me go!" Dinah screams, but Selina pulls Dinah towards her with the whip and knocks her out with a single blow.

I give Selina a look.

"What? _You_ get to have all of the fun?"

I stare at Selina blankly, "When were you planning to mention that you were carrying a compressed whip around your waist?"

Selina stares back at me squinting, "I guess around the same time you were planning to mention that you were carrying a small military arsenal in your jacket." She says as she wraps the whip back around her and presses the small jewel button that causes it to shrink-wrap to her waist again.

I suppose that's a point.

And I guess I can't exactly hold against her that she kept a secret from me, considering what I am keeping from her…

Selina nods down at my waist. "And instead of complaining, you should be _thanking_ me for the idea, Bruce. A belt would be a lot easier to carry around than that heavy-ass jacket, wouldn't you say?"

"Jacket's not heavy." I answer, standing up. "The items weights were optimized for ease of conveyance."

Selina rolls her eyes as I recall the task at hand.

_No time for this_, I think and glance at my watch and then up at the clock.

1:07 am.

About 6 minutes since the bullets first went off. And that wall clock is now 40 minutes too slow.

_No longer any way that __**that**__ can be a coincidence._

This gym is beginning to feel like a morgue.

I can't let anyone else die in here tonight.

Taking a brief survey, I look towards the entrance door and see a few kids trying to dig others out of the rubble. By the dais, Mr. Cole is still sitting helplessly beside his wife's body. The rest of the kids, no longer eager to escape are cowering in small huddles, clinging to one another in fear.

I close my eyes and think for a few moments.

A knife, an arrow _and_ a gun? What kind of a person would bring all of those to carry out murders? These deaths, that slowed clock, the abstract method of killing. It's all connected, and I understand now that the killer is not being choosey about how they kill. Or maybe, they are intentionally killing in different ways to make themselves harder to track. But still…

_Something__ is missing. _

I know now that it was a faculty member, but all four guards and the principal were accounted for when each of the murders were committed.

A guard in each corner of the room the first time, in the hall with the other kids the second time, and no one was needed to carry out the third murder. The only faculty member who hasn't been accounted for each time is that janitor.

_Where the hell did he go?_

Opening my eyes, I look over at the principal again and he is whimpering like a child over his wounded leg. I look around him and see three of the guards with him. The other, Mr. Cole is beside his wife.

So that's all of the faculty members remaining. The four guards, The principal and Mrs. Cole…but…

_Four guards…?_

_That's it!_ I realize.

There are _only _four guards, all within my view, and none of them are short like the one I saw a little while ago.

I turn in a circle and finally spot who I was looking for. The short guard _isn't_ a short guard at all.

He's the janitor Sal, dressed in a guard's uniform.

His eyes meet mine just as he is scooping something into his bucket from the growing pool of water that was the ice sculpture.

When he sees me looking at him, he immediately drops his items and takes off running toward the hallway entrance.

"Stop!" I yell and race after him.

"Selina, the bucket!" I hiss, and Selina sees me and nods.

Once outside of the gym, I catch up to the janitor easily and tackle him in the hallway.

"I'm sorry…I'm _sorry_…" he fumbles out, but I don't want to hear it. All of those people killed.

"Do you _realize_ what you've done?" I yell and punch him in the face.

"I didn't mean…I wasn't trying to-"

"Why did you kill those kids? That teacher? _Why_?!" I yell and hit him again.

"I had to help them. They were going to hurt my family if I didn't." the janitor says and he's sobbing now.

I hear nothing. All I can think of is Celestia's body riddled with bullets. Those kids trapped under rubble. Selina…almost getting shot. Again.

I pound his face again and again.

"_**Who**_? You had to help _who_?!" I scream and yank him up to my face.

"_Please_…! They'll kill me…"

"Not if _I _kill you first." I hiss and I sock him two more times for good measure.

"Now, who in the**_ hell_ **are you working for?!" I scream, and I can feel the fear seeping in that he won't tell me.

Because_ if_ he doesn't?

…I don't know what I might do to him.

Luckily, he seems to realize that _I __am_ the imminent threat and finally gives a whimpering, surrendering nod.

"The Al-" Sal stammers out.

I hear the bullet whizzing before it hits him directly in his temple.

Sal's eyes widen briefly and then go dim.


	20. Chapter 19 - Let's Go

**19\. Let's Go**

Her:

(Earlier)

Surprisingly, I didn't get much joy out of hitting that Dinah girl, but putting her hands on Bruce is a no-no. I thought I made that clear earlier tonight.

Bruce is scanning the room for something and I glance back over to the group of kids by the door. Johnnie Falcone is gasping with relief as he helps his sister from the rubble. "Lucia! My God, I thought you were dead!" he is wailing with more emotion than I have heard in his voice all night.

The girl is covered in dirt and dust but crying remorsefully as she cradles her arm. She'll definitely need a trip to the hospital, but she was luckier than a lot of the others.

Of the maybe 15 kids who were standing by the door when the rubble broke through, only 4 have been pulled from the pile. The rest of 'em must be dead or at the very least critically injured.

"Stop!" I hear Bruce screaming suddenly and I look over and see him pointing in the direction of the hallway, his body turning towards someone. I balance on my toes, readying to sprint. Quickly glancing in the direction of Bruce's stare, I see the janitor dropping something near his bucket and then speeding towards the hallway door.

"Selina, the bucket!" Bruce yells, as he takes off after him.

I run over to the bucket and look inside, seeing only the brown scummy water.

_Yech!_ My first thought is to leave it right where it is. But then I notice that there is something hard and shiny that seems to be floating there.

I kick the bucket over and out pours a mix of dirt, blood and…

An arrowhead.

It is sharper than any blade I've ever seen, but clearly the same kind of weapon used in the first two murders.

More specifically, the arrowhead used to kill Brant.

I look around and see a plastic cup near the toppled punch bowl. Using the cup, I scoop up the arrowhead in the bowl and then something flashy near the bottom of the tipped over bucket catches my eye.

Little shards of glass…

_No…crystals...? _I wonder, as I lean closer.

But, they're not crystals…

They're diamonds!

I pick up a few and then notice a long trail of sparkly diamonds leading from the bucket over to the pool of water surrounding the ice sculpture.

I smile.

_Maybe I'll be able to get my condo after all._

Setting my evidence into a small corner of one of the fallen tables. I turn back to the room and see that though most kids were begging to get out, they are now just standing around huddled in packs. A few more are sobbing by the front entrance.

To my right, Oliver Queen is sitting up now with his girlfriend beside him as they comfort each other.

_Bang!_

Another gunshot. My eyes shoot over to the hallway and my heartbeat is immediately in my ears.

_Bruce!_

I snatch up the gun Bruce took from Oliver and take off running. I hear more shots ringing out and I'm tripping over snacks and trash from the night. My heartbeat quickening, mixed with the heels and this long-ass tulle skirt, isn't helping, but somehow, I manage to continue running upright. I take a deep breath and holding the gun up steadily, I slip into the hallway and press my back to the right wall.

After a few moments of quiet, I glance out ahead of me and see a body on the ground.

_Oh my God!_

"Bruce?!" I yell and begin to rush towards the body, but a hand reaches out from the left side of the hallway and grabs me.

It's Bruce standing on the side of a set of lockers. His breathing is frantic and his hair's a mess, but he looks okay.

"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" I ask, my words stumbling over themselves as I slide my hands over the sides of his head and then his face. I look down searching Bruce's chest for any sign of a wound.

"I'm fine, but the janitor's dead. He was the killer."

"I know. I found the arrowhead he killed Brant with in his bucket."

"But…there was something else…" Bruce starts, and I hear footsteps getting closer to us. Which probably means someone is about to try and shoot at me. _Again_.

_Are you freaking kidding me?!_

"I don't think so." I say and pull away from Bruce and begin to step into the hallway, but Bruce pulls me backwards just as a bullet blasts past me.

"Selina, stay back! They've got a gun."

We hear another yell coming from the gym entrance and I glance over and see that kid, VJ slumped by the hallway doors.

At most, he looks like he was slugged in the shoulder, but I feel the rage building up in me anyway.

"So, do I!" I yell and giving Bruce a quick shove back, I rush back out into the hallway and start firing without pause.

Him:

Before I can stop her, Selina shoves me backwards and throws herself into the hallway opening with a heavy grunt.

Selina fires bullet after bullet and suddenly I hear a thud.

Stepping out behind her, I see another body at the other end of the hallway.

I race over to her side.

"Who is it?" I ask, not having time to put on my glasses. Selina breathes heavily as she squints a little focusing her sight.

"One of the guards." Selina says and racing over to him, she kneels down and then calls out, "He's still breathing."

I reach into my jacket and removing the small roll of duct tape, I toss it to Selina. Selina ties him up tightly and then hurriedly makes her way back over to me.

"That's Smith. I didn't even know there _was_ a guard named Smith."

"Right. There's Smith, Crews, Henries, Cole, and the janitor." I say and then all at once it hits me.

_Dear God…_

So, my final thoughts _were_ correct. The answer has been in plain sight the entire time.

I was so focused on the little things. The _god-damned _basics.

If what I think now is right, then we're all still in danger. Those kids in the gym, we can still save. I glance around for a moment, trying to think of a plan and see the classrooms.

Pay dirt!

I jiggle a handle, but the doors are all locked. Shit. I was thinking the lock-switch opened everything, but it is only a secondary reinforcing lock.

_We need…_

_Keys!_

I race over to the janitor's body and snatch the keys off of his waist.

I slide on my glasses and sure enough, the keys are engraved with tiny numbers.

"Selina! We need to try and get everyone to safety."

"How exactly are we supposed to do that Bruce? I'm out of ammo and the school is still blocked in."

I hold up the keys and Selina nods.

I slide some keys off and Selina and I make our way down the hall opening as many doors as we can.

We race back towards the gymnasium and I help up VJ, who's holding his hand over the hole in his left shoulder stopping the blood. Maybe his dad taught him how to prevent bleed-out from a bullet wound.

"You ok?"

VJ nods and says weakly "Just a shoulder wound, I think…"

Damnit. Now we'll need medical attention on top of everything else.

Well, we'll have to worry about that later. I lift one side and Selina takes the other and we ease back into the room carefully.

My eyes trace the room. Not a single faculty member is in sight.

"Listen up!" Selina calls out and all of the kids snap to attention "We need some volunteers to save some lives tonight!"

Her:

King of Douchebags, Oliver Queen is surprisingly the first to respond. "I'll help." He says and he and that girl of his walk over to us first, with the other kids following closely behind and heading in our direction.

Oliver looks a little shaken up actually, for maybe the first time tonight.

Oh yeah. It's probably because he unlocked the doors and those kids got crushed. Some of em' were killed, I'm sure. I guess that's enough to shake up anybody.

Bully and Johnnie Falcone-flanked by his sister Lucia, whose arm is tied up into a makeshift sling made from his jacket-come over and lift VJ from our shoulders. "We've got him." Bully says.

I spot Crystal making her way towards us too. Her hands behind her back, I remember that she is still handcuffed.

I set the gun down on the ground and make my way over to her, taking out my hairpin. "Here." I say, and Crystal's dazed eyes barely seem to register me, as I reach around and pick the handcuffs for her.

I gently nudge her towards the other kids and say, "Just stay close." She nods at me and then hangs her head starting to sob again.

Wow. I feel for the girl's loss, but we gotta get everyone else safe.

I walk back over and pick up my gun. After a brief informational chat, Bruce is handing Oliver the keys. "We've unlocked several doors, even numbers on the left side of the hallway. We need you to get everyone into those rooms. You still have that lockswitch?"

Oliver holds up the device.

"Good." Bruce looks down at his watch and then again at the wall clock.

"You have a watch?" Bruce asks Oliver and the guy lifts what I am pretty sure is a Rolex.

I can see Bruce's eyebrows twitching and I can just imagine the internal struggle to not roll his eyes.

"Well, no need to synchronize with _that _watch. But we'll have only a short window of time. About 4 minutes. That will be 1:24 am. As soon as your watch hits 1:24, initiate the lock-down and then stay put."

Oliver nods and then says, "Anything else?"

Bruce shakes his head, but I give a short whistle and Oliver looks over at me.

I hold up the gun, "Got any more bullets?"

Him:

All the remaining kids and Selina and I gather at the gym hallway door. "Remember that this is serious, and we have minutes, guys. We don't need any more deaths tonight." I say.

With a nod to Oliver, I push open the doors and Selina steps out, holding the gun out ahead of the group. Both of us scan the hallway quickly.

"We're clear." Selina says and then in a coordinated wave, the kids are making their way to every even door to the left as Selina and I guard the hallway.

Roughly seven kids to each group, within minutes they are all huddled near the doors and Oliver and Dinah are with Selina and I at the last door.

I scan the right side of the hallway again while Selina takes the left. No one in sight, we look at each other and then nod. We both yell "Now!"

Every door is yanked open and within seconds all of the kids are safely inside of those classrooms. We hear the sound of the initial door locks clicking.

Oliver and Dinah walk inside of theirs.

Oliver turns and looks at me and Selina. "What about you two?" he asks.

"I forgot the radio-walkie, so we'll head back and get it. We'll be right back." I answer.

Oliver gives me an openly skeptical look that lets me know he doesn't believe a word of the lie. Instead of speaking up, however, he gives me something of a courteous nod and backs into the room with Dinah.

"Remember," I say as I back away, "Whether we're back here or not, lock these rooms down at 1:24."

Oliver nods and I pull the door closed.

I look over at Selina and she looks at me. Again, in sync, we nod and breathe out:

"Let's go."


	21. Chapter 20 - Mastermind

**20\. Mastermind**

Her:

We make our way over to the stairs and there's this sign that says, "Wet Paint". True. Just like I noticed earlier on my way to the cafeteria, the stairs are clearly still wet with paint...which is a little strange now that I really think about it. Wouldn't they be dry by now?

"The janitor must have been painting these stairs over and over, all night, to cover his tracks." Bruce says, nodding toward a spilled paint can a bit behind the stairs. "He must have been retreating up those steps after every kill."

I smile a little. Leave it to Bruce to have figured out the answer.

Whatever the guy was doing before, it's over now, because with a quick glance up, we can see that footprints are now stomped haphazardly into the wet steps.

"Three pairs." Bruce whispers and then looks over at me. "And by my count there's three of them left." Bruce says, as he kneels down, but shakes his head. "Although…something's still not adding up."

While he's busy "detectiving", I glance down at my skirt and note how its ragged and covered in dirt and grime. It's not easy to move around in all this tulle either.

"Bruce, let me hold your knife." I say, and Bruce squints up at me, but pulls out his wallet and hands me the knife.

I reach down and roughly cut away the skirt. All that's left now is my leggings, my whip and the halter.

_Much better. _I smile and hand Bruce back his knife.

But, Bruce frowns at me remorsefully and stands up.

"Selina…I'm really s-" he starts, and I put my fingers on his lips.

"You say you're sorry one more time and I will smack you." I say. And then adjust my halter a bit. For the first time tonight, I kind of wish I had worn my leather jacket with my dress.

Bruce gives a bit of a smirk and then as if reading my mind, takes off his own jacket and holds it out for me.

"Bruce, I don't need-"

"Selina, please." Bruce says, and his expression is soft and caring. I don't want to, but all I can think about is how sweet he's trying to be. Even in these ridiculous circumstances.

"Ok." I say gently, and Bruce steps over and slides his jacket around my shoulders.

I slip in my arms and instead of buttoning it, I ty up the bottom edges into a short knot above my waist so that it'll be easier to move in. I kick off the heels and crack my knuckles before I slide out my clawed gloves, and then toss the clutch down with the skirt.

Him:

I roll up the sleeves of my dress shirt partially and absently pat my left pocket again. The box is still snugly secure, but I doubt I'll be able to give it to her before the night's over. If we even make it through the night, that is. The very fact that I am even thinking of it has me a little concerned considering what's at stake.

Ignoring any other thoughts of romance, I turn to Selina and nod.

We begin to make our way up the steps, as quietly as possible, but the wet paint isn't exactly helpful with stealth mode.

Once we reach the top, I glance around and note that much of the floor is still undone. There are cordoned off sections and wood and granite stacked up in sections all across the path. There are opened and unfinished classrooms all down the hallway and signs declaring "Do not enter" on various doors.

I glance down and carefully using my wallet's flashlight, we can follow the trail of footsteps easily. They lead right up to the faculty office.

I read the name and it all comes together.

_And __that's__ the missing piece._

Easing up to the door, we listen for a few moments and hear the loading of what I am sure is a bevy of much heavier artillery than they were using before.

Oliver gave Selina another clip that holds 6 more bullets. And, as much as I am not a fan of using guns or of Selina shooting people, I am as certain that it will be necessary as I am that we can't make our final stand in this wide-open hallway.

I look for a secluded space and see one.

"There's an office." I whisper.

Together we creep over into the room and gently close the door behind us.

Because this part of the building is still unfinished, these rooms are not tied to the other classrooms that are controlled by the lock-switch. My guess is that that faculty office isn't either.

We slide down behind a desk that faces the single window into the room, and I glance at my watch. 1:30 am. Good, so everyone's sealed in by now.

"So, what's going on?" Selina asks, settling in beside me. "Why did the janitor kill Brant? And why did that guard kill him?"

"I should have seen it all along." I say, and I really could smack myself right now. "Those men aren't guards. They're gang members."

"_What_? How can you know that?"

"The problem was the murders. I kept thinking that they were connected. That they _had_ to be connected. But they weren't. At least not on purpose.

"Brant was just the most conveniently positioned when he was killed. The same with Mrs. Cole. But, because of the bevy of suspects and the entanglements involved, I was looking for a killer among the kids. It wasn't until Celestia was killed that I realized."

Selina heaves a deep sigh, as she usually does when she thinks I am taking too long to get to my point.

"Realized what?"

I close my eyes and shake my head. "Basics. All night, I was so busy trying to stick to the basics, that I missed obvious signs. Kept thinking horses, when this time, I should have been thinking zebras."

Selina gives me an incredulous stare. "What the hell are you talking about, Bruce?_ Zebras?!_"

"I'm sorry, it's a term used in medicine. It was coined by Dr. Theodore Woodward and my dad used to say it to me all the time. Dr. Woodward would tell his interns that when they hear hoof-beats, they should think horses and not zebras. It just means that you check a patient for the most logical conclusion first. You hear a cough and you should expect a cold, not lung cancer. But in this case, I was so focused on the idea that it _was _horses, that I ignored the percentage of time, no matter how small, that it _can_ be zebras."

Selina looks at me aghast.

"What? Zebras do exist, Selina, is the point. It's foolish to ignore that in a time of-"

"Bruce?!" Selina says, cutting me off in an angry whisper, her nostrils flaring. She then says each word with a pause in-between. "Get. Back. To. The. Point!"

"Yes, I'm sorry." I continue, "All of the killings happened at exact times. Within a few minutes, I have estimated them to have been at 10:42, 12:12 and 1:01. At the time, each one seemed so random, but the pattern should have been apparent."

I hold up my watch and say, "The school wall clock was off. And all night it kept getting further and further away from the correct time. A casual observer would think it was unintentional, but it wasn't. By throwing off that clock's timing, it would be nearly impossible to notice the pattern tied to the time each person was killed. To know that the killing times were being signaled. So, if possible, the next would have been at 2:32 am. Then 3:22 and it would have continued until the police got here."

Selina shakes her head, "So, someone was killing people at specific times?"

"Exactly. But it wasn't evident _why_ until after Celestia was killed."

"_Why_, after Celestia, Bruce?" Selina says, and in her tone it's clear that she's losing her patience.

"Because, there was a gun in the photo booth." I lean over and undoing a button of my jacket, I tap the gun near Selina's left side. "It's empty." I confirm, and she nods "It was hidden within the photo booth and disguised as a second camera. It was connected to an automatic trigger and clock timer. It was set to go off at around 1:02 am and shoot at anyone indiscriminately. That meant that the killings were random. The point was not _who _to kill, the point was just _to_ kill.

"Whoever set this up, couldn't have known who would be in the booth and when. And they also had to be someone who was confident that they would be able to remove the gun in time to get away with it. But, as a fail-safe, the photo booth button had gun powder on it so that if anyone did happen to touch it near the set time, it would go off early and frame the witness for the murder."

"Crystal." Selina says.

"Right. While we were distracted with her, the killer could get into the booth and get the gun out with no one the wiser."

"And if no one got into the booth…"

"The gun would have still shot into the crowd, killing people indiscriminately."

Selina nods her head and says, "And the only one with that kind of access to the booth, before the dance, would have to have been a faculty member."

"Right. Making the janitor the perfect patsy."

"But, how do you know he's just the patsy? And why are you so sure that the guards are in a gang?"

"Before he was killed, he told me that someone made him kill those people. And as for the guards, it was the bombing that blocked us in. I knew that it was too well in sync with the killing to have been a coincidence. But, when Bullock verified it, it seemed to check out. However, once Celestia was murdered and I noted the killing times, it became clear that whoever was doing this had to have been confident that they would have their choice of victims. It would have to be members of one of those gangs, because only they would have known about the bomb going off and blocking us in."

Selina nods and then her eyes shine in the moonlight as she says, "I'm guessing that that's got something to do with these." And she holds up a handful of shimmering diamonds.

Her:

"Where did you get those!?" Bruce hisses, gripping my hand and examining the jewels.

"They were in the ice sculpture. The janitor was gathering them up and putting them into his bucket from the melted ice."

Bruce looks as though something has just occurred to him and he nods. "That's why he knocked over the sculpture. He was trying to get to the diamonds. They must have been his payment."

"But they were in ice…how could he be sure that it would melt in time…?"

I shake my head and then recall at the same time as Bruce and we say,

"_That's _why he raised the temperature."

"The ice would melt faster." Bruce says, pointing out the obvious, but adds, "And it would also help to deteriorate forensic evidence on the bodies."

I think of the bodies.

Brant Jones.

Serene Cole

Celestia Mooney.

Those kids in the rubble.

And all of those deaths were random and senseless.

_Damnit._

I think of Bruce and how earlier I thought_ he_ was dead. Thought he had been killed. And to know his death would've been the result of a need for random murders...? The thought gives me a shiver and I try to blink it out of my mind.

Bruce Wayne's death. How could I possibly take that…?

Thinking of my imagined reaction to Bruce's death, I remember something.

"But…what about Mr. Cole?" I ask. "That guy was clearly in love with his wife. He wouldn't have wanted her killed."

"Exactly. The odd card was Mr. Cole. Watching him mourn his wife, it was apparent how much he loved her. He would never have agreed for her to be killed. So, I don't think he's a part of it. Which can only mean that the other three guards were taking their orders from someone else."

"_Who_ else?" I ask.

"Who was making sure that the bodies weren't examined? Who made sure that the room was in lockdown and then unlocked just in time for the next victim to be killed? Orchestrated the bathroom break? And gave the guards orders the _entire _night?"

_Aw, Hell!_

_Principal Elias Row_ is the God-damned mastermind!


	22. Chapter 21 - Together Period

**Author's note:**

**Please note these chapters will deal a lot with death and violence, including _very_ violent language. Be aware, anyone in need of a trigger warning.**

**21\. Together. Period.**

Him:

As if on cue, I hear the lock behind us being jiggled. I glance over at Selina and she stares at me wide-eyed.

"This door wasn't closed before. Someone's gotta be in here." I hear one of the guards saying.

In his frazzled, authoritative voice, Principal Row calls out "Who's in there? Look, this is not a game. Someone is trying to kill students. We need you to come out of there _right now_!"

I pull out my knife and as if reading my mind, Selina pulls open the jacket and hands me the smoke canister.

Reaching my hand above us, I quietly hand Selina a stapler from the desk. I point to the corner and make a throwing motion. Selina nods and together we make our way around the desk so that we are still hidden, but now on the side of it with a view of the door.

"We don't have _**time**_ for this!" Row growls in a sinister voice and I hear the rounds firing into the door and shooting off the knob.

Selina and I hold our breaths as Row and one of his guards walks in. Oliver's bullet must have only grazed him, because now there is not even a limp in his steps. Peering at them from the darkness, I see them gazing around the room and the guard is now holding a semi-automatic weapon. Just as I feared.

Only when both have fully entered the room, away from the door do I nod, and Selina tosses the stapler into the furthest left corner.

They both turn and the guard shoots into the corner. With the two of them distracted, we both race to the door and I turn and toss in the smoke canister. Another guard-Crews-is standing beside the door outside. Before Crews can lift his gun, I pull him towards me and wedging the gun in-between us, I first punch him and then lift the gun and knock him out with the blunt end. I quickly remove the ammo and then hurl the gun over the railing to the first floor.

As Crews falls to the ground, we hear the principal and his other guard-who must be Henries-coughing, wheezing and struggling to make their way to the door through the smoke.

Selina and I race down the hallway, and barrel into the furthest unfinished classroom in the corner.

"You can run!" Row yells, his breath coming out in choked wheezes as he staggers into the hallway. "But this is _my_ school! I know every single nook and cranny!"

Her:

Bruce and I crouch down behind a large stack of wood in front of a long row of windows.

"Bruce, he's coming! We're going to have to start shooting." I say and pull out the gun, clicking the safety off.

Bruce places his hand over mine and pushes it down. "Selina, those guards have semi-automatic weapons. Shooting is a chance we can only take when you have a clear shot."

_Clear shot, smear shot! Bastards need a bullet!_

I shake my head and sigh in frustration.

"But if he finds us in here, we're _mincemeat_."

"If anything,_ I'm_ mincemeat, Selina." Bruce says in a husky tone. "If it's down to you or me, I _won't_ let them, hurt you!"

I look over at Bruce and am annoyed as hell to see that he's 100% serious.

"Bruce, you always act like you get to decide that you can't lose me. Does it ever _once_ occur to you that I'm_ just_ as committed to not losing you?!"

Bruce gives me an honest, but woeful smile. "It doesn't, because that's a possibility that I can't consider, Selina."

"And why not?"

His expression's even sadder now but achingly honest, "Because, it would mean that if it ever comes down to it, we'd end up dying together."

We hear the principal and his goons busting into rooms. Hurriedly advancing down the hall and banging into classrooms; stomping around and looking for us.

I look at Bruce's face. I take in his sad brown eyes, that tousled hair and the permanent scowl. But, really, as usual, all I see is the face of the scared little boy I first saw all those years ago. Crying in agony at the realization that he'd lost his parents. Terrified as hell ever since of losing anyone else.

I hate that memory. Worst memory of my life. Worst memory of his life. Binds us together forever in the sickest, most twisted way possible.

Only one good thing came out of that:

Us.

The principal and his guards are getting closer. We have minutes. Probably less.

And Bruce Wayne is determined not to let me die. To go first.

I put the gun down and take off my gloves. Pulling Bruce's face into my hands, I look into his eyes for just a moment. And realizing what could be coming next, I pull him towards me and kiss him. Full on, gasping for his breath, as he gasps for mine, I kiss him. Hard and deep.

For all the times I haven't. For all the times I should have...

…For all the times I might never be able to again.

When I pull away from Bruce, we're both breathless and he leans his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. He turns and softly kisses the hand that holds his right cheek.

I think of Bruce's words from moments, earlier.

"…if it ever comes down to it, we'd end up dying together."

"Then we die _together_." I say firmly, as I tearfully stare into those dark brown eyes.

"_**Period**_."

Him:

Selina…

I…need her…

Can't lose her.

_Won't_ lose her.

Not tonight.

I wonder about this odd desire to tell her the truth. _Every_ truth. Every _thing_. Even now when our lives literally hang in the balance. How can one woman consume so much of my heart? My mind? It's unsettling.

I take a beat and then say it.

"_You're_ the other person." I say in a near-whisper, my forehead still pressed against hers.

"What…?" Selina asks, her voice a single, breathy question.

I pull back and look at her "You're the only other person I trust, Selina."

Selina smiles and gives me another quick kiss before looking me in the eyes with a small smirk, still gently caressing my cheek, "You really think I didn't know that?"

I give a brief smile and Selina pats me on the cheek lightly, before her expression turns serious again as she gestures her head towards the approaching noise outside.

Pulling apart, we hear the Principal and his guard edging even closer. We share a look and silently agree to get back to the task at hand.

They are probably one classroom away. I give Selina a nod and she pulls back on her gloves and picks up the gun. I pull out my knife and Selina hands me the grappling hook.

If they come in here and we're in this same position, we're both dead. I gaze around the room and see a tape measure by one of the walls and a leveler against another.

"We still have to try and save the bullets for clean shots." I say to reemphasize, as I notice Selina steadying the gun.

Selina rolls her eyes, but nods. "Fine."

I stand up and we glide quickly to the sides of the door. I pick up the leveler and nod Selina over to the tape measure.

I hold up three fingers and we silently count down together. On three, Selina shoots out the tape measure and I grip one end with my left hand and hold up the leveler like a bat with my other.

"In there!" I hear Row scream and the guard comes barreling through the door.

He trips across the tape measure and stumbles awkwardly into the room. I slam the leveler against his head, and he tumbles over backwards.

Selina isn't the best shot, but she's good enough and she shoots him in one of his legs before he's able to stand back up.

Selina quickly shoots at him two more times and hits his hand on the second shot.

"Ahhhh!" the guard I recognize as Crews screams and falls backwards, fully crashing into the wood stack.

With Crews incapacitated, Selina and I come toppling out of the room, tripping into Henries and the principal.

Row rushes in another direction as Selina spin kicks away Henries' weapon and then fires a shot at him. As Selina misses, Henries swipes out his arm and knocks her down. Instead of shooting at her, he lunges for her and grabs her leg.

I rush towards and knock Henries over with a hard kick to the face.

Stumbling over Henries, I am slammed into the railing, gripping it just before I topple off the second floor. I look back as Selina sits up and searches for her gun, but I've been counting, and she has only two bullets left.

I hear a click and look over to see Row exiting his office loading a handgun.

"If you want something done right..." Row hisses and aims his gun towards Selina.

I don't have time to reach her.

"Selina!" I scream.

Her:

"Selina!" I hear Bruce screaming and turn to see Row pointing a gun at me. Tumbling out of the way just in time so that his bullet hits Crews-same dumb guard I shot earlier-in the side, I cartwheel over and pick up my gun before landing upright on my feet.

I got two shots left and much as I want to shoot them, I can't guarantee that I can take them both out from here.

I look over and see Bruce by the railing and he's holding his grappling hook in his left hand firing it off, while holding out his right hand, motioning for me.

_This boy is nuts!_ I think, as I look up and see that Bruce has wrapped the grappling hook around the chandelier.

Meanwhile, Crews, who I guess has the worst timing ever, is now blocking Row's path, groaning in agony and complaining. I can't really blame him, since he's been shot 3 times and all.

But I guess that annoys Mr. "Principal", because Row shoots Crews straight through the head with his handgun, before quickly snatching up Crews' dropped semi-automatic weapon.

But, Damnit. I've only got two bullets left…

Row looks over at us and then clumsily aims his gun at me again. Thankfully, he seems to not be used to handling such a powerful gun, because he can barely control the spray and is practically blown backwards with his first few bullets.

I race towards and crash my body into Bruce's, wrapping my arms around him, just as he leaps onto the railing. We fly off the ground rocketing towards the chandelier amid a hail of bullets.

The adrenaline courses through me and the sound of gunfire rushes through my ears. The wind whips around my curls as we zip up to the chandelier. Once we reach it, I look down and see the other guard Henries by the principal's side now, pointing the gun at us steadily.

"Hang on!" Bruce yells and then we're careening toward the ground, with the sound of bullets chasing us down the whole way.

Once we're a few feet from the ground, Bruce yells "Left!" and I swing my body with his towards the left so that we both roll and crash into a classroom door.

We leap to our feet and both reach for the doorknob.

But, of course, it's locked.

_Shit!_


	23. Chapter 22 - Deserve-All

**22\. Deserve/All**

Him: 

We race down the second hallway, away from the classrooms that contain my former classmates. I pull Selina to the side of the nearest pair of lockers and we wait quietly as we hear Row and his guard lumbering down the steps.

Selina has two bullets left, so things are likely not going to turn out well for us now.

"Do yourselves a favor and surrender quietly!" Row yells out. "If you do it now, I'll make your deaths quick and maybe even spare a few of your little classmates."

He's got to be less than 10 steps away from us now. But Selina's not a good enough shot to kill both of them with her remaining bullets. My only chance to save her and the others is to somehow get him to let down his guard.

_But…How…?_

The idea hits me, and I close my eyes, take a deep breath and then steady myself. I pull away from Selina's side.

"Why?!" I yell, and Selina looks out at me like I'm crazy, but I give her a slight, reassuring nod. I know she thinks otherwise, but only one of us has to die tonight.

And it's _not_ going to be her.

"I think I could ask _you_ the same question." Principal Row says with a genuinely curious tone. Being that he has to be only a few steps away now, I take the chance, holding out my knife in clear view as I take a step out.

"Why what?" I say.

Henries trains his gun on me, but Row lowers his handgun and then holds up his hand, signaling the guard to do the same and the guard hesitantly complies.

"You have it _all_. Money, power, influence." He smirks here and nods toward the locker where Selina is "And by my estimation, love." I don't flinch because I need him to stay focused on me. Not Selina.

"And ironically," Row continues, "You were the only student who I told my men they had to spare. Couldn't really have such a high-profile murder as yours without the GCPD _really_ baring down on us. So, you and your date could have just enjoyed what was left of the night, really." He laughs sickly, "So, why on _earth _would you waste your prom night trying to solve a murder?"

"That's _murders_." I say, and I can't keep the anger from seeping out of my tone. "And it _wasn't_ a waste. You didn't have to kill them. And those people _deserve_ justice."

"Deserve?" Row laughs before his face slides into a disgusted smile. "That's so easy for you to say, _Bruce Wayne_." Coming from his lips, my name sounds like a disease.

"_Billionaire_ Bruce Wayne. So simple for you to talk about what's deserved, isn't it? Your idea of what's deserved is probably a little skewed, wouldn't you say? You've spent your entire life in the lap of luxury, while I've lived my entire life in servitude to unworthy brats like you!

"At least I did until those _glorious _bridges collapsed." Row closes his eyes and tilts back his head reminiscing, "Then Gotham became a _free-for-all_. All you needed was a brain and a little imagination. Then it was so easy to strategize, gather allies and carve out a piece of the crime, the power, the _unending_ possibilities for yourself."

I raise my eyebrows "And that's what you did?"

He nods, "That's what I did. But, of course, I had no way to know how long my newfound career path would last. So, I made a little name for myself." He smiles. "Or rather I made _no name_ for myself: A. L. I. A. S."

Of course! The Alias Gang.

I remember hearing about them during the island period in Gotham. Gordon told me that there was one gang whose leader they couldn't pinpoint, because he _had_ no name. He went only by Alias and handled his gang entirely from the shadows. The gang specialized in ruthless murders and smaller jobs, but they did so many, that they quickly became a force to be reckoned with. And being that they held no attachment to the higher-ups they were nearly impossible to eradicate.

The idea that Principal Elias Row was the head of a notorious, murdering gang is almost as unbelievable as this entire night has been. But it was kind of ingenious. Who would suspect a mild-mannered man who'd been principal of a prestigious Gotham school for over 30 years? I certainly didn't.

"But, then thanks to that do-gooder, Captain Gordon and, from what I understand, with your monetary assistance, Gotham was reunified. And of course, I couldn't reveal what I'd been up to, so I had no choice but to resume my position as principal when this despicable school reopened." Row holds up his hands with a shrug. "But, by then I'd had a taste of a better life. A _richer _life. I couldn't just go back to the status quo."

"So, you decided to slaughter a school full of kids?" I growl, feeling my hands curling into fists.

"Not a school full exactly. Just enough so that the massacre would be so heartrendingly abhorrent, that their entitled parents would demand that the school be razed to the ground by the end of it. I could retire as principal and live out the rest of my days as the King that I was always meant to be. In the meantime, my minions are out securing enough territory and causing enough havoc to get things wholly back up and running again."

Disbelief consumes me fully. I shake my head. Those kids. That teacher. Even the janitor and his own guard. All of _this_, so that he could return to a life of crime?!

"You're _**insane**__!_" I hiss, the anger almost seething out of my pores.

Row shrugs, "May_be_. But, I'm smart enough to have orchestrated all of this and be about to get away with it." He nods towards the side of the lockers that Selina is waiting on. "And to realize that this is all a cheap distraction tactic so that your little friend can ambush us." Row motions to Henries and he lifts his gun and fires off a rain of bullets to my immediate left.

"_Get **out** here,_ _you little bitch!_ Otherwise the next set goes right into his skull!"

Her: 

At the sound of Row's command, I step out slowly, holding out the weapon and saying softly "Ok, ok." before letting the gun drop to the floor.

"Just don't hurt him." I add with a desperate squeak and Row smiles triumphantly over at his goon, who foolishly takes his eyes off of us to chuckle along with his boss.

_All the time I need._

I pull out the gun Oliver gave me and fire a single shot directly into the right side of the chest of the guard.

The gun I dropped was the empty one that Bruce got from the photo booth.

The guard stumbles backwards and falls flat on his back, his gun sliding across the floor. Henries continues squirming and groaning so that I know he's not dead. But he's _definitely_ incapacitated.

Row's eyes widen as I direct my gun at him, but he points his up at me at the exact same time. At the very least we'll end up killing each other.

_Well…I guess there are worst ways to die than taking out a murdering psychopath with you._

I grip the gun with both hands and say "Bruce…?" And give a quick glance over at him.

He doesn't answer but he's looking at me with the most fearful look I've ever seen on his face.

But, it's okay. _He'll_ be okay no matter what. He's Bruce Wayne.

Bruce Thomas Wayne.

My best friend. My guy.

Aw, Hell. Might as well admit it now…He's my boyfriend.

Stupid, brooding, son-of-a-bitch, Bruce Wayne_ is_ my boyfriend.

I smirk at the thought. But this next part is important, so I let the emotion capture my voice as I say it for the first time.

Loud, clear and words that will probably be my last:

"I _love_ you."

I steady the gun, looking at this sick bastard Row and take a deep breath.

But Bruce…

God-damned, savior-complex Bruce, leaps in front of my gun.

"Wait!" Bruce yells, holding out his hands towards Row. "I get it, okay? I understand that it was hard for you to just go back to normal." His voice is that assuring and understanding tone now.

"Through a crazy stroke of luck, you got a unique opportunity and a true taste of power. That can be hard to give up. But, think about it: now, you've got _another_ unique opportunity."

"Do I?"

"Yes." Bruce says, edging towards him slowly as he speaks in a calming tone. "I am the richest man in Gotham city. I'm worth way more to you in ransom than I am dead."

My mind is having trouble now formulating what Bruce is suggesting. Not because I can't, but because I don't want to.

Bruce continues. "Spare the other kids. Spare _her_, and I'll be your willing hostage. You'll have more money by daybreak than your great-grandchildren could spend in their lifetimes."

_No!_

"Bruce! Get out of my way!" I yell, gripping the gun even tighter, but he ignores me and continues his pleading suggestion.

"You can leave Gotham. Make a fresh start."

Row smiles. "Well, well. How _truly_ rare. An option that _I_ hadn't considered." He says, but he's still pointing the gun directly at Bruce.

"Fine. I suppose you'll do." Row says after a moment and then nods towards me, "Tell your little partner to lower her weapon."

Bruce turns to me and nods, but I shake my head. This is one suggestion that I will not follow. "Bruce, you _can't _do this. He's crazy! He'll _kill _you!"

"I care less about killing him than I do about the money that he has." Row says, but he's still pointing the gun at us.

"On the count of three," Bruce says, and his eyes plead with me as he side-steps nearer to Row, "You both lower your weapons."

I step along with Bruce, getting closer to Row just as Bruce does.

My hand is trembling at the thought of Bruce going with this creep. I just can't let that happen.

But…I can't be certain that I can make the shot either. Not like this. Not without chancing that I'll hurt Bruce too.

"One," my hand is sweating, shaky.

"Two," my eyes fill with tears that I quickly blink away.

"Three." Bruce finishes and though everything in me screams not to, I shakily lower the gun as Bruce is taking a final step right in front of Row, who lowered his gun at the same time as I lowered mine.

Bruce sighs deeply and then turns towards me, "Selina? Get the other kids-"

Row grabs Bruce into a choke-hold and presses the gun to his head.

Him:

My left arm pulled tightly behind my back, the cold steel presses hard against my temple, but all I can think about is that Selina's okay. She's safe.

Selina is holding up her gun again and she can take Row clean out. She has the shot. And she's close enough now that she can hit him from this distance easily.

"Ah, ah, ah." Row says admonishingly, pulling me backwards towards the cafeteria door. Selina moves with us, advancing steadily, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You let us go," Row hisses in his sinister tone, "Or I will _kill_ the love of your short and dangerous life, right here and now."

"Selina." I rasp out, because no matter what he says, Selina's right. Row can't be trusted. Not to leave Gotham and not to let me live. Not even once the ransom is paid "Take…the shot."

Selina's hand is shaking, as she moves forward with us. She's holding the gun as steadily as she can, her finger on the trigger. But, before she even makes a move, I can already see it in her eyes. They mirror the expression mine would hold if I were in the exact same position.

Selina can't chance being the cause of my death, just as I wouldn't be able to chance being the cause of hers.

"Bruce…" Selina says, and her voice is sorrowful, wavering…terrified. "I'm sorry." She whispers, and she holds up the gun, drops it and then kicks it across the floor. "I can't."

The moment I hear Row's sickening laugh, my stomach drops. In a split second, Row weaves his right leg around mine and grips my throat even tighter with his right arm.

I choke for breath, unable to do more than scratch limply at his arm as he points his gun out at Selina, whose beautiful green eyes go wide with fear. "Sorry, Bruce Wayne. But it's time that you got a taste of what _**you **__truly _deserve." I hear the gun cocking "And learn that even _you_, don't get to have it all!"

_**No!**_

Helpless.

Again.

All that training, deducing, "detectiving" and with Selina's life in danger, I'm worthless…

I can do nothing to stop it.

And maybe worst of all, I realize that I can't even watch. I can't watch another of my loved ones being killed. And so, like a coward, I close my eyes. And as I do, the sound of a bullet being fired explodes through my ears.


	24. Chapter 23 - Case Closed

**23\. Case Closed**

Her:

I see them standing there together and for a few seconds, I don't know what the hell happened.

My heart seems to stop. Time stops. My breath stops. And I stare over at Bruce whose eyes hold the same look I am guessing mine do.

Suddenly, blood pouring from his mouth, I see the gun drop from Row's hand. His grip around Bruce weakens and he drops to his knees and then falls flat on his face, onto the ground.

Bruce is breathing heavily and looks first down at my gun and then up at me in bewilderment.

Realizing that neither of us had a hand in this, I make my way over to Bruce and we stare down at the gunshot wound in Row's back. Confusion overtaking us, we look at each other and then there's a slight sound. We turn around and there's Mr. Cole down on one knee near the end of the hallway. His face streamed with tears, he's holding the smoking handgun steadily in his hands.

Pointing the gun down, Cole fires another bullet, killing Henries, who I'd shot and who was lying still, slightly shivering beside Row's body. Guy wasn't dead from my bullet, but now he is.

Cole just stares blankly ahead for a few moments and then begins in a pained whisper, "I put a bullet into the heads of every single one of those other thugs…But it's _still _not enough."

"Serene was the most_ beautiful_ person I ever met." Cole says in a dazed tone as he speaks about his wife. "Kind and loving and caring. Decent. She had no part of this." He shakes his head, motioning the gun around him towards the dead bodies and chaos. Then he continues in a monotonous manner, "She didn't belong in Gotham. And she didn't deserve what happened to her. I just wanted to make a better life for us. That's the only reason I started working with ALIAS."

So, Cole _was_ a part of it. He just didn't agree to have his wife killed.

"Why wouldn't you say anything if you knew who killed your wife?" I say. He let the killing continue. Let Celestia get murdered after his wife. Why not just end Row's killing spree right there?

Cole shakes his head with a sick laugh. "You still don't get it…not even _we_ knew Row _was _ALIAS. Or that the other guards were a part of it. We knew there was going to be a bombing. Killings. That we needed to keep you all here for it. But we didn't know why. Not until the very last moment, when you went after that janitor. That's when Row rallied everyone, explained about the others, showed us his tattoo-" As he says this, Cole lifts a part of his sleeve to reveal a masked face tattoo, that I guess is the ALIAS symbol and then goes on. "And that's when he revealed that _he_ was the face behind the voice. Sent Smith out to the hallway to get a handle on things.

"Of course, what those other idiots failed to realize was that if he was revealing himself to _us_, it also meant that he was planning to make sure that _we _didn't make it through the night either." His expression goes dark. "And on top of everything else, I wasn't about to let him get away with that."

"Guess I should thank you two. Row was so busy going after you, that he didn't seem to have time to wonder why I stayed behind the others." Cole pats his pocket and says "I got it all here. Wrote down everything I know about _him_, ALIAS, and the takeover plans for Gotham." His expression hollow he barks, "Then, I came after them!"

Glancing back in the direction of the gym, Cole's voice wavers, as if he's still looking at his wife. "Because he never said anything about killing _her_. Never said _anything_ about killing more than a few rich, asshole kids!"

Bruce is shaking his head with a look of disgust. "Meaning you were just fine with others losing _their_ loved ones, just so long as _you_ didn't lose _yours_."

Cole gives a sad sort of smile. "Ironic isn't it? All I wanted was for us to have a better life together." He gives a hollow laugh, "Now we'll never be together again."

Cole gives out one last pained sob and adds, "At least I know Serene will get everything she deserves in Heaven."

He holds the gun up to his head, "I'm going to burn in Hell!"

Bruce quickly pulls my head into his chest and screams "NO!", but still…

The bullet rings out.

Him:

(Hours later)

Detective Bullock is leading the students out of the cafeteria's back door. Many kids are shuddering, some still crying. Many couples cling to one another. But, they're all alive. I made sure to radio out for VJ, Lucia Falcone and all of the other kids who are still being dug out of the rubble to be airlifted to Gotham General, and cared for on Wayne Enterprises dime.

I am not sure about the rest of the survivors. I know that some will be placed in ICU. As for VJ, however, he will need a few days rest and a sling, but he'll live.

"So, the guards were all in on it?" Gordon asks, as he and Detective Harper confirm my statement. "All except for Cole…?"

"Yes. Once he figured out what was happening, he took all the other guards down." I say. "Selina and I were able to get the other students into the classrooms, but we left the radio, so we went back for it, when we were confronted by Principal Row. He wanted to take me hostage, but Mr. Cole killed him before he could."

"And then he also killed himself…?" Gordon asks.

I give a sorrowful nod, "I think he just couldn't take it that he wasn't able to protect his wife."

"And this," Gordon says, holding up the small folded paper that he got from Cole's pocket. "It's like a small book of cheat codes for the Alias Gang. Their rendezvous points, signals, tattoos. All of it." Shaking his head and eying me like a trapped rat Gordon says, "How would Cole have known all of this if he had nothing to do with it?"

My mind racing though I keep the mellow look on my face, I trill out "He took something from Principal Row's body after he killed him. My guess is that was the something." Gordon's eyes go into a curious squint, but I continue tactfully, "I'm sure you'll find even more at Row-uh…_Principal _Row's house."

"Handwriting might not match Row…" Gordon says and it's as though he's challenging me to come up with another plausible explanation. My smile is lazy now, because I know as well as Gordon does that, he is the most thorough detective in the GCPD. No one else will likely ask the questions that he is.

"Captain Gordon?" I say, "This man was able to quell a sinister side for over 40 years and had a completely hidden villainous identity. I'd say it's not a reach to say that he could have changed his handwriting as well. Maybe even had someone else write it."

"What about the freshly cut, missing patch of skin from Cole's arm?" Gordon asks and internally, I thank the heavens for Selina. She had the idea and executed the cutting of the tattoo from Cole's arm. Then decimated it in the oven. I shudder to think of where she stored the burnt scrap of flesh.

"I am unsure, but I believe he had a hand-to-hand combat fight with one of the other guards. I guess they got him then." Remembering when Selina claw-scratched Crews earlier tonight, I add "I'd say check one of the other guards for knife wounds in kind."

Gordon looks at me with raised eyebrows and for a few moments we just stare at each other. "Well, Bruce. For someone who didn't help with this investigation, you certainly have an answer for _almost _every single thing."

I know the tactic. He's trying to lull me into a false sense of security. But, of that entire statement, the only part that I really key in on is the "almost".

_Which part did I not have an answer for…?_

Suddenly Gordon's eyes give a slow and deliberate stare over to Selina, who sits across the room on a metal cafeteria table. His tone skeptical, Gordon says, "But, if all that you're saying is true, Bruce, then _all _of the bullets in those guards _and _Mr. Cole will have been fired from the same gun."

Of course, they won't be, because Selina shot three of the guards.

"And if they _weren't_, I know _you _well enough to know that_ you_ would never fire a gun."

What Gordon's not saying is clear. He knows that I'm lying. Of course, he does. And he knows that I'm doing it to protect her. I am Bruce Wayne after all. My money, status, power, and the need for Gotham to have a "first son", a "moral compass" will always get me out of trouble with the system. But, as much as I might try to stop it, I can't guarantee that that very same system wouldn't swallow Selina whole.

So, yes. Gordon realized that I would never have fired a gun.

But unluckily for him, Gordon doesn't realize one thing: Tonight, for the first time ever, Selina Kyle told me that she loved me.

And there's just no way I am letting the system even get its hands on the woman who loves me.

"Captain Gordon," I say with a genial smile, going into full "Bruce Wayne" mode "I don't know what kind of weapon or weapons, Mr. Cole used. All I know is that everything I have told you is because sometimes bad people die. There's no reason to ruin the lives of good people because of those deaths."

"I don't know about "good" people." Gordon scoffs and gives another glance over at Selina.

"If there's one thing we should _both_ know by now, Jim," I say, calling him by his first name intentionally. I want it to be clear that I am about to reference the ill deeds I know that Jim Gordon has done, not the respected captain "James Gordon". "Good and Bad aren't always black and white." I say, giving a knowing smile of warning. "_Especially_ not in Gotham."

Gordon considers me apprehensively. Of course, I've heard the rumor. Everyone's heard it. He's to be voted commissioner, next week. It's all but a formality at this point. But he knows as well as I do that anything that is a formality, is still delicate enough to be overturned. A few well-timed and well-informed whispers, with enough verifiable information about Gordon's less-than-stellar past and that title can be snatched away easily.

Staring at me now, it's clear that Gordon's amusement is over. He's no longer having fun with his little game of "How far are you willing to go…?". Instead, in his worried expression it is clear that he is now wondering if I would _really_ do that. Give him up, give myself up. Give anyone else up, all to protect Selina Kyle.

Luckily for both of us he knows the answer: I'd give up the world...

…And I'd do it in a single heartbeat.

"Well, I suppose we can debate about good and bad later." Gordon concedes finally, giving me an annoyed but understanding look. He gives Harper a sharp nod and she smiles, returning the gesture.

"As far as the GCPD is concerned." Harper says, closing her notepad. "This part of the case is _officially_ closed."

Her: 

I sit on a metal table, my feet dangling over the bench and glance over at Bruce. He's talking with Gordon and Harper. I'm sure he's smoothing over the story we told. Gordon will see through it in two seconds flat. But, being that Bruce is well, Bruce, he'll get us out of it.

He always does.

Not to mention, he owes me, seeing as he made me hand over the diamonds I got from that ice sculpture.

'They're _evidence,_ Selina.' I recall and shake my head with a scoff.

_Mr. God-Damn Morality._

"Hey." I hear, And I look up and see Crystal walking towards me.

"Thank you. You guys saved our lives." She says, nodding over to the little kid, Harleen, who's wearing someone's jacket over her shoulders, which makes her look even smaller than she already does.

"Be real messed up to get the neighbor's kid killed after I was just trying to protect her." She adds and I recall wondering why she seemed guilty when she was introducing the little kid, for the first time. Now, I get it: she didn't want anyone here finding out about the poor neighborhood she lives in with her.

_Wow._

Crystal reaches out a limp hand to me and I shake it. "No sweat. You would've done the same."

Crystal laughs dryly, crossing her arms. "You _know_ that's not true."

I shrug. "I don't. I'm no hero, but I just do what I can to help people, when I can. That's all I can do. All anyone can do really."

Crystal nods, but her eyes are brimming with tears. "It seems so shallow now." She says, nodding back towards the other kids, "Caring what Gotham's high society thinks of me." She laughs bitterly, "Or maybe it _already _seemed shallow and I just didn't notice it."

I say nothing, because she's right, but I feel kind of bad for having judged her.

"I didn't mean to be shallow…it's just that that's what I thought mattered. In Gotham you either matter to the right people or you don't." Crystal shakes her head "I just _wanted_ to matter."

I know the feeling and I almost want to hug her, but I don't. "Crystal _you_ do _matter_. So does Grady." I say and then I motion to those kids, "Just try to make sure that you start letting yourself matter for the right reasons. Screw those other kids. From here on, why not just do what's best for you guys?"

Crystal nods and smiles now. And then her voice chokes up again. "Do you realize that you probably know more about me now than any of my _actual_ friends do?"

Well, that's gotta hurt. A damn near stranger knows more about her? Then, I think of Celestia, and how Crystal just watched her best friend get killed.

"I'm sorry about Celestia." I say, "I'm not sure what she told you, but I do know that she still wanted you to be her friend."

Crystal smiles ruefully, nodding "Yeah, she said that she was going to forgive me. That it would take her some time and she didn't know how long, but she would forgive me." Her eyes tear up, "That's why we wanted to take those pictures. We wanted to have at least one good memory from tonight."

_Crap._

"_Man._ That's got to be…"

"A living hell." Crystal says in a small, trembling voice. "If it weren't for Grady…I don't know, what I might do. I just don't know..."

"But you _do _have Grady." I say.

Crystal nods, "I do."

"And I don't think Celestia would want you just giving up. Do you?"

Crystal shakes her head and wipes away some tears. "He'd be better off though. I'm an idiot. I didn't even _mean_ to have him. The person I love most in the world is only here because his mom is an idiot."

I look over at Crystal and think of all she's been through. I think of how Crystal's best friend and her kid's father were both killed tonight. Girl's had a rougher prom than most of us. And not to mention, the secret son who's her "brother".

Talk about trauma.

But she's still standing. She's not a quivering mess like some of these kids and she's not hurling in a corner. She's tearful and covered in blood, but she's standing. Thinking clearly about her kid and the life that she has left.

I recognize her, because she's like me.

Crystal's a survivor.

"Look, I don't know anything about being a mom. Hell, I don't even know about _having_ a mom." I say with a scoff, "But what I do _know_ is that you have your kid. You didn't abandon him and you're _trying_." Again, I think of my own mom who left me when I was only five. "That's a lot more than a lot of people can say."

Crystal smiles at me with her freckle and tear-streaked face, "Thanks, Selina." She says, and I nod as she turns and walks back towards her little neighbor.

Crystal's lost so many people, but she's strong and kind. Thinking of how she told Celestia about the kid, I add to the list that she has a conscience.

They wanted just one good memory from the night, and then Celestia was killed while they took their pictures. Talk about bad luck…

I wish there was a way that I could have helped make one good memory for Celestia and Crystal.

As I think of her, suddenly, Celestia's words from earlier float through my head, _"…for the rest of our lives, Crystal will have the __only__ living piece of Brant left."_

The _only _piece of Brant left. Brant Jones whose family is rich...

He's gone now, _and_ he was an_** only**_ child.

_That's it!_

"Crystal?" I call, and I quickly motion her back over to me.

I step off the table as Crystal walks back over to me and I start "Listen, like I said, I don't know much about parents…but, at least from what I hear, the only thing they love more than having kids is having grand-kids." I can see the wheels turning in her head as I finish my thoughts, "My advice? Tell Brant's parents about Grady. After losing their only son, they'll want to know they have a grandson. And once they do? I'm sure neither of you will ever have to worry about anything _ever_ again."

Crystal stares at me dumbfounded, saying, "But, how did you know Brant was an only child?"

"Celestia." I say softly and reaching out, I squeeze her hand "She told me the truth and now _you'll _be able to tell _yours_. _That's _the memory you can keep from tonight."

Crystal's eyes go wide, as if she'd never even considered this. And she's crying again, but this time, there's a smile of relief too.

Before I can say another word or do anything to stop her Crystal reaches out and pulls me into a hard hug blubbering out happily, "_Thank you_!"


	25. Chapter 24 - Traditional

**24\. Traditional**

Him: 

I survey the cafeteria and thank God that Selina and I made it out of this alive. For better or worse we saved as many lives as possible. I only wish we could've saved more.

All of the kids seemed to graciously buy our story, and after the chat with Gordon, I am confident that Selina's record won't have any more blemishes because of me.

_VJ._

He was the only kid who actually witnessed Selina firing her gun. But, before they wheeled him away, he grabbed my arm and pulled me near him saying, "I'll keep your secrets, if you keep mine."

This meant of course that he realized I'd realized who his father is. I smiled down at him. "Your secret's safe with me."

VJ smiled in kind and with a quick glance to Selina whispered weakly, "And so's hers." He then released me, as they wheeled him away.

And I thought as I did before: Victor Zsasz's son is a pretty good guy.

Let's just hope he stays that way.

"Bruce does it again." I hear and turn to see Tommy walking towards me with an unreadable expression. He's smiling, but his eyes are glassy. Like he's been tearing up maybe, but not crying exactly.

"What's that?" I ask.

Tommy shrugs and his expression drops into a thin frown "Who knows? But somehow, you managed to have every kid in this school feeling like they owe you something. Not their lives, exactly, but _something_."

I search Tommy's eyes, but I can't place the expression. It's as if he's…angry with me? But that makes no sense, really.

"I didn't do anything, Tommy." I say with a laugh, "Unless you count almost getting myself kidnapped and my date killed."

Tommy smiles now, his expression softening "I don't Bruce. Or hadn't you heard that _almost_ doesn't count?"

Now, I'm certain of it. There's something…harsh beneath Tommy's words. But I can't place why until I note him rubbing his neck. Ah yes. Selina almost choked him out earlier.

"Look, Tommy. About Selina. She's not…_from_ where we are. She grew up with a different set of rules. She thought you were hurting her friend." I say and nod towards his neck.

Something flashes in Tommy's eyes, before his expression softens. "Her loyalty is admirable. After all, 'A friend is a second self…'" he says and glances at Selina. "When she gives her heart, I am guessing she gives it all."

I look over at Selina and see that she is talking to Crystal. She's got that determined look, her mask of indifference slipping for anyone paying attention. She's never had much, but she's so generous with whatever she does have.

She's amazing.

I glance back at Tommy, responding to his comment, "That's an understatement. Only I don't know that she even realizes it."

"Well, let's just hope her heart never ends up in the wrong hands." Tommy says and gives me a look of warning. For some reason, it makes me uneasy. Before the feeling can settle in, Tommy pats my shoulder, smiles and says amiably, "Until next time, Bruce."

As Tommy Elliot walks away, shoving his hands into his pockets and confidently striding out of the door, I shake my head at the friend from my past life.

I am almost positive that I will never see him again.

"Wayne." I hear, and I look over to see Oliver Queen walking up to me.

His expression is no longer as self-satisfied as it was at the beginning of the night. I recall thinking how he would never have any concept of hurt or pain. But, after those kids were killed when he unlocked the doors, he took responsibility and helped save a lot of lives.

_Maybe there's hope for this guy yet._

Still, if it affected him too deeply, Oliver doesn't showcase that change to me now.

"Lucky break that Mr. Cole took down all those guards _and_ the principal." Oliver says casually, but there's a hint of quiet amusement in his eyes. Like he knows better.

I give him a wry smile, "Yeah. I guess I'm just lucky."

"I'm luckier." Oliver says with a smile, "That gun isn't traceable back to me since it was bought off the street here in Gotham. And I'm sure that it's been wiped clean of any prints."

I give a brief nod but say seriously "I doubt they'll ever even _find_ that gun."

Oliver smiles again. "That's probably for the best."

Oliver reaches over and I hold out my hand which he shakes firmly. Giving me a serious look for what I think is the first time tonight, Oliver says "For what it's worth, I don't think my dad is up to anything really serious here." I nod but wait for the other shoe and it drops as he says, "I think he just wants to open up a plant…or two."

At the end of his statement, Oliver tries to pull away, but I keep my grip on his hand, and pull him towards me. Locking my eyes on his, I say "Not if_ I_ have anything to say about it."

Oliver pulls away, looking a bit startled. Then he laughs and gives me a friendly pat on the back and says, "You're _alright_, Wayne."

As, I finally release his hand, I say, "You're not too bad, yourself, Queen."

Oliver nods his head over to Selina, who's being squeezed into a hug by Crystal and bugs her eyes at me mouthing for help.

"You're on your own." I mouth back, mimicking her words from earlier tonight when I was voted Prom King.

I look back at Oliver and he says, "And that's quite the girl you've got there, Wayne."

I smile. "You're right about that." I say and seeing Dinah walking towards us with Oliver's jacket draped across her shoulders, I add. "And you're not doing too bad yourself."

"Yeah. Well, my girl's tired." Oliver says and kisses Dinah on her head, before pulling her in by her shoulder as they both back away, "Good thing we got a hotel for the night."

I shake my head at Oliver, when he winks. "What?! It's tradition." He says, and Dinah hits him playfully on the shoulder.

I watch as they walk away, and Oliver turns back to me, calling, "Hey! You want to keep that girl, Wayne?"

I smirk a bit and raise my eyebrows in anticipation of Oliver's unsolicited advice. "Let's just say, I think it wouldn't hurt if you were to try to be a bit more of a "_traditional_" guy, yourself." He says.

(Later)

I pull up to the Gotham Royale Hotel Plaza and then walk around and open Selina's door. She's wearing my torn jacket over her halter, the tattered clutch in one hand, the compressed whip around her waist and her broken high heels, dangling from her other hand. She's still the most beautiful woman in every room, but I feel bad that she'll have to walk into the lobby this way.

"Are you comfortable with going in here?" I ask, as Selina slips her left-clutch-holding-hand through my arm and steps barefoot onto the pavement.

Selina looks the giant, shimmering high-rise hotel up and down and shrugs. "Well, I agree, it is a little bit _beneath_ me." She deadpans, before giving me a playful smile, "But I guess it'll do for now."

We make our way through the lobby and ignoring the few stares and murmurs we head to the elevator. As Selina steps onto the plush, red carpeted floor, I press the number 50. We're riding to the highest floor.

I reach down and open the hotel room door and step aside letting Selina walk in first.

"Ho-ly_ shit!_" Selina says and walks into the wide golden space. Even _I_ feel awestricken. I've never actually been in this penthouse suite and it's the largest hotel room I've ever seen. The golden etching and shimmering chandelier give the room a warm glow. The entire northern wall is made up of crystal-clear windows that give a bird's eye view of Gotham.

It's astounding.

"If you'd be so kind." I say, as Alfred, along with two women wearing uniforms from a local spa, walks over to Selina.

"We've drawn up your bath, miss." One woman says and she's holding a folded robe.

"And I can help with those nails for you." the other woman says and lifts up Selina's completely ruined manicure.

Selina's mouth widens into a smile as she looks over at me. Her eyes seem a bit hesitant and she's clearly warring with something.

"What?" I ask.

"Will you still be here when I come out?" Selina says timidly, as if even asking the question pains her.

I give a brief smile and then nod. "Right here." I say.

Selina's smile overtakes her face and then she turns and follows the women into the large bathroom.

Alfred walks up beside me as I survey Gotham through the gigantic wall-length windows.

"Have a memorable night, Master Bruce?" Alfred asks.

I shake my head. "_Too_ memorable. Selina deserved a better prom night." My head hangs a little, "She deserves a better _man_."

Alfred scoffs and grips my shoulder, urging me to meet his gaze and then eyes me sternly. "Well, that's too bad for her then isn't it?" He says, his voice laced with prideful emotion. "Because there_ isn't_ one."

I give Alfred's hand a squeeze and we share a quiet moment.

"Were you able to get it?" I ask and tilt my head towards the bathroom.

"The very one." Alfred says and then frowns. "Although, in addition to that purchase, I noted several others."

I squint at him. That's not like Selina. Of course, she's welcome to anything, but she never wants it. Only ever asks for money when she's _literally _desperate.

"How much?"

"$300,000." Alfred says and shakes his head "Interior decorations, restaurant supplies, a few things from some ladies' boutiques and most curious of all: baby clothes." At the end of his statement, Alfred raises his eyebrows, his expression demanding of an explanation.

_Ah, now I see. _

"Barbara." I say, and Alfred sighs, deeply relieved, nodding as though that single name explains everything.

"Shall I cancel the charges?"

"It's fine." I say, adding, "But just to be on the safe side, after tonight, cancel that card."

Alfred nods, but then he is deathly quiet for a few moments.

_Here it comes…_

As expected, Alfred gives me a look of contemplation. "Have you reconsidered what we spoke about earlier?"

I don't want to talk about this. I know what he'll say, and he doesn't know her like I do. I know what she'll say. And Alfred doesn't understand.

"Alfred…"

"Master Bruce, how often do I question your decisions?"

I scoff and give him an incredulous look, "_Often_, Alfred. _All the time_."

"Alright, then. Fine. But this one? This one's a _bloody wallop!_ You won't _ever _be able to make it up to her."

I choke back the gulp, "I know."

"You won't _ever_ be able to go back!"

I sigh deeply, "I know."

"Are you sure you don't want to tell her the truth…?"

"I'm _not _lying to her, Alfred. I've told her already that I was thinking of it. And I know what she said. I know what she didn't say. I know what else she _would_ say."

"Still, Master B. After _all _you've been through, all you've seen her overcome, you don't think she's strong enough to handle that talk?"

And it is in this moment, that I realize that Alfred really doesn't get it. Selina probably doesn't, maybe no one does.

Selina Kyle is _my _weakness. She's the one person who could convince me not to go. With tears. With just a word. With maybe even just a look.

"Alfred, I _know_ Selina's strong enough to handle that talk." I say quietly, and I can feel the shame welling along with the tears, as my eyes mist up. "But, it's not _her_ I'm worried about. It's me, Alfred." I say and look over into the eyes of the man who raised me "…_I'm_ the one who's not strong enough to handle it..."

Alfred stares at me for a few moments and then his face softens. This expression is quiet, pitying and new. I can't quite understand it. The best I can say is that Alfred looks as though he's just discovered the answer to a question, he's had all his life.

Finally, Alfred gives me a sorrowful smile. "Alright, then." He says quietly giving my shoulder a final squeeze.

Before he turns to walk away, Alfred glances toward the bedroom and then gives me a stern look. "Just be sure that when the night's over, you're still a man of honor."

"I couldn't help it, if I tried," I say with a smile, swiping the tears from my eyes, "A 'man of honor' is the only example of a man that I've ever had."

Alfred gives a short bow and heads toward the kitchen.

About 20 minutes later, Alfred leaves, along with the women from the spa and I have the food sent up. It's after 2 in the morning, but she'll be hungry.

She's always hungry.

The table is set, and the classical music playing when Selina finally makes her way out.

Again, she is stunning.

This dress is just as beautiful as the first one was when we began the night. The exact same look, except that this time she wears no leggings and no compressed whip belt.

"How did you know where to find it?" Selina says, as she practically glides towards me.

"I didn't. Alfred checked the card charges to find the store and have the replacement sent over."

Selina gives me a guilty sigh, "About your card…" she says and stops by the table for her clutch. Pulling out the black card, she hands it back to me and I note that her nails are a simple clear polish. She looks more herself and I am in love with it.

_My girl._

"There might be some charges on there that you don't recognize." Selina trills out of her soft, pink lips.

I barely even hear her as I toss the card to the side and wrap my hands around her waist.

"That doesn't matter, Selina. All that matters right now is that we're here, together." With a reciprocal smile, Selina reaches her hands up around my neck and we waltz slowly. Looking down at her, I think of the one thing that's missing from her beautiful body and remember.

"And this," I say, and reaching down, I finally pull out the thin, velvet box that's been burning a hole in my pocket all night. "Is for you."


	26. Epilogue - Last Dance

**Author's Note:**

Here it is, the end of the story I have no real words at the moment, except **THANK YOU**. To every single one of you who is reading this. I truly hope that you have enjoyed the ride. Special Thank You's to **Frostburn243** and **Angelamorales514** for reviewing every single chapter/chapter set. I truly appreciate you sticking with me. I have no words for how much it meant to me. You really did help me to finish this story.

_JazzBatCat_

**Epilogue: Last Dance**

Her: 

The breath leaves my body when I see the bracelet. It's diamonds. Looks like_ hundreds _of diamonds. They're laid around one another, swirling like stars and explode in a burst of one giant diamond at the apex.

"Bruce," I say, as I reach out and touch the large center. "It's…It's too _much_. This must've cost a _fortune!_"

Bruce smiles playfully. "I think I have enough left to live on." He says and lifting my left hand, he holds up the bracelet and snaps it onto my wrist.

I look down at the bracelet again and feel butterflies. I lift up onto my toes and kiss him. When I pull away, Bruce's eyes are hazy, and he's got that sexy glint in them.

I run my hands through his hair as we lazily sway to the music again.

"Thank you, Mr. Wayne."

"You're welcome, Ms. Kyle."

"It's perfect." I say and close my eyes. Thinking about how perfect it really is. The dress. The room. The bracelet. The smell of the delicious food that I'm suddenly no longer even hungry enough to eat. Everything.

Everything…_except _for the music.

It's some of that classical crap that Bruce likes. But, I'm not exactly in the mood to complain about it. And then, as if he's reading my mind, I hear the stereo whirring and the song switches,

Out trills the song, from our singular, memorable dance.

_Now go when you're ready my head's  
Getting heavy pressed against your arm__  
_

We dance in small circles and Bruce sings terribly and beautifully, again.

_I adore you, I adore you…_

_**(Later)**_

As if by design, around 3:30 am we get stir-crazy and make our way up to the rooftop.

Rooftops are kind of our thing.

"How did you even _get_ a key to this rooftop?" I ask, as I step out onto the gravelly grey ground.

Bruce sets a brick in the doorway just to ensure that we don't get locked up here. "We are at the very top floor of the hotel." He says, walking over to me and holding out his arm. "Slipping a few more dollars to the bellboys can open a lot of doors…literally."

I roll my eyes at his corny joke. But Bruce doesn't usually have a sense of humor, so I can't help but give him an appreciative laugh.

We walk to the edge and sit near it. I would rather dangle my legs right over the edge, but after the night we've had, I concede to just sitting nearby at Bruce's request.

Before we sit down, Bruce holds me still for a moment. "Selina, your dress. I don't want it to get dirty again."

I smile over at him. "It's fine, Bruce. Haven't you heard?" I say, raising my eyebrows and Bruce smiles back curiously. And in this moment, I decide that with the room, the food, the bracelet, he's earned this part. Out loud. "My_ boyfriend's_ a billionaire. I think he can afford the dry-cleaning." And as I finish, Bruce's face melts into the biggest smile I've ever seen.

We slide down and Bruce sits behind me, as I slide my back up against his body and we gaze out over the city.

"Gotham is _so_ beautiful from up here." I say.

"It is." Bruce says quietly, and I lean back my head so that my hair is nestled against his chest.

"And you're so beautiful from _everywhere_." Bruce whispers in my ear.

"So are you." I smile and tilt up my face, so that his lips are over mine. Bruce gives me a short, semi-upside-down kiss.

From here, we decide to try talking about normal-teenager "date" things that we never have before.

And _our_ version of the conversation ranges from the simple and generic:

"Favorite animal?" I ask.

"Owls." Bruce says and then-clearly out of habit-asks me, "You?"

I give him a blank stare. "Sorry." He laughs. "Cats, of course."

To the specific and absurd:

"Best getaway vehicle?" I ask.

"Car." Bruce says matter-of-factly like that's the only possible answer.

"What else?" he adds arrogantly.

"Um, hello? Ever heard of a motorcycle!" I add and it begins a short and silly argument about which is better.

But after a few minutes of the inane, we just sit quietly, Bruce gripping me in his arms from behind, my hands draped over his arms, as the moonlight and the stars sparkle over us.

Gazing up at the stars and remembering that night with my mom from all those years ago, I think again of Italy. And how I've always wanted to go.

Looking up into the sky, I think of all the people I've ever known, and all the ones I will know. And most of all, I think of how the only one I can _truly _depend on is sitting behind me, rocking my body gently.

"Bruce?"

"Selina…"

"Can I ask you something?"

"…Anything." Bruce murmurs, kissing my hair.

I can't form my thoughts. What I think I want to say. I just know that if I _am_ going one day, with anyone, then I want it to be him.

"Someday…one day…will you come with me? To Italy…?"

The rocking stops and for just a few moments, it seems like Bruce is not going to answer.

Then he breathes it out, so quiet I can hardly hear him. "Someday, Selina. _One _day…I'll come with you. To Italy."

I smile, and add as I rub my hand over his, "You promise?"

Bruce tightens his arms around me, "I promise."

We stay this way forever. No words, no noise, just Bruce holding me in his arms. And somewhere under these stars, I realize: It's the best night of my whole entire life.

It's around 5 am, when Bruce walks me back to the room.

We stand here looking at each other for a few moments and then, his eyes boring holes, my lips trembling, we simultaneously lean in, wrapping our arms around each other desperately and kiss. _Really _kiss. Long, lingering and undisturbed. The kind of kissing people only ever do when no one else can see them.

I can feel myself being lifted off of my feet and I wrap my arms around Bruce's neck as he holds me up by the waist, pressing my back against the door. I feel sparks shooting all throughout my body and Bruce is holding me tightly against him. Finally, Bruce gently sets me back on my feet, but his lips stay on mine as we go on for what feels like forever.

Bruce pulls me in deeply for only a few more moments, before I feel him backing off, as he usually does, letting me decide when the kiss will end. Usually, I tell myself that Bruce does this so that things never go further than I want them to. This time, it's as if he's _guaranteeing_ that they won't go any further.

Hell, even I don't know what came over us, but I guess it's not exactly the right time for it out here in the hotel hallway.

I kiss Bruce for a few more seconds, before I pull away too and our lips finally part.

Bruce's lips reddened, as I am sure mine are too, we're both practically panting. Bruce leans his head against the door beside mine, as I lean my forehead against his shoulder.

"So…" I say softly, leaning my head back against the door as Bruce turns his face slightly to look at me, "That's what they call making out, huh?"

Bruce's face reddens even more, and he leans his face into my shoulder. "I think that's what _"they"_ would call "passion"." He practically mumbles against my shoulder, before kissing it gently.

"Well. Let's just say: I'm a fan." I say and slipping my hand into Bruce's pocket, I pull out the hotel room key, as he smiles at me wistfully.

_And let's hope there's more wherever the hell, that came from._

I reach backwards and slip the hotel room key into the door, until I hear the click. I smile over at Bruce as I step into the room, holding out my hand for his. But, when I try to pull him in, I feel myself being pulled back towards the door.

When I turn to look at Bruce, he leans down and kisses my hand. Then he leans into the room and kisses me again. Nothing intense, but there's something different in it.

It feels like a goodbye.

I pull away and look up at him. "Don't leave, Bruce." I say.

Bruce shakes his head, "I got the room for you, Selina. It's yours for the week, if you want it. And any room service will be charged directly to me."

"No, Bruce." I say, because I really don't want the night to end.

Having a sudden thought, I say, "It's our prom night. Sleeping together on prom night is tradition."

Bruce's eyes widen, and he stammers, "S-Selina, I…" He closes his eyes and steadies his breathing before saying "Not tonight. Not like this… I don't want to…want_ us_ to… because it's a tradition. Or what's expected."

Ignoring Bruce, I pull him into the room. "Who said anything about doing what's expected?" I say, and dragging him forward, as I keep walking backwards, I kick off my heels. Then I let him go and crawl onto the bed, fully clothed.

I turn to Bruce, "We don't have to _do_ anything. Just _sleep_ with me." I say, and I hold out my arms for him.

Bruce smiles and steps out of his shoes. He crawls into bed and wraps his arms around me as we hug each other tightly.

For the second time tonight, I can feel his heartbeats, and he kisses my head softly. I'm not even tired. And I feel like I could lay here in his arms for years and years.

Time passes. Maybe even an hour and we're both quiet and still. I guess he thinks I'm sleeping. Because he says it in a steady, definite tone.

"…And, I love you too."

_I know_, I think.

But I can't even lie. It feels good to hear him say it.

_Really_ good.

My face hidden against his chest, I tear up a little as I tighten my arms around him.

Mr. God-Damn Morality.

Mr. Savior Complex.

Bruce Thomas Wayne.

_The love of my short and dangerous life,_ I think and smile, as my first ever, happy tears slip down my cheeks.

Yeah.

This night will be a memory.

This night will be_ the_ memory.

Him:

(Moments Earlier)

Selina's breathing steadily. Safe and unharmed. Beautiful and so deserving...

…of so much more…

I've made my decision. I think I'd made it years ago, without even knowing it. But, tonight…all the other nights when others were in danger. When _she_ was in danger because of me, solidified it.

I'm leaving Gotham.

Sometime next week, because everything will finally be in place. Wayne Enterprises and Wayne Manor are already back in the pre-construction stage, which will give Alfred and Lucius something healthy to focus on. With those non-violence commitments from Penguin and Riddler, the city is safe for now. And Captain James Gordon, truly the best man for the job in the whole of Gotham city, will be confirmed as commissioner.

Gotham won't need me then, so I have to leave then. That way, I can learn best how to protect Gotham when it _does_ need me again.

I don't know exactly how, all I know is that I have to seek out all those who can help me become the protector that this city needs. The protector that _she_ needs…even if she doesn't know it.

But for now, none of it matters. What matters is that she's here with me now.

What matters is that tonight she finally said them. Those three words, that I've longed to hear. That I've longed to say myself. But how could I before? How could I now, knowing that I would be leaving her? To confess that now, would be so selfish. Almost as selfish as making love to her would be. No matter how badly I want to do either of those things.

And I do.

_God, I do!_

But, if I can't be the best man for her right now, a _better _man, I can at the very least, remain an honorable man. Just like the men who raised me taught me to be.

Closing my eyes, with Selina sleeping softly against my chest, I remember the words as she said them tonight. Life or death and probably thinking they could be her last words, she said it:

"I love you."

"…And, I love you too." I say, unable to contain those words any longer. And it's almost imperceptible, but it feels like Selina pulls me in a little tighter.

And, as always, I breathe easier in her arms.

No matter what else happened tonight, I am holding the woman who I love in my arms. The woman who loves me.

Up on that rooftop, tonight in the hotel room, even earlier in the evening at the prom, these moments. Moments with _Selina Kyle_ are the _**best**_ of my life.

This _night_ is the best of my life.

_Probably the best night I'll ever have._

I feel a pain rising in my chest as I think of those green eyes peering up at me, thoughtfully. I can feel the tears trying to surface, but I won't let them. I have to keep it together.

Can't break down. Can't think about those eyes, her eyes. And I just know that if I saw them on that day? Whichever day I leave, I would never be able to do it.

But I _have_ to.

I let go of that thought. In this moment, I hold onto Selina Kyle, memorizing her body, her hair, those eyes and make another memory. A memory that will have to last me a long time.

A memory that will maybe have to last me for the rest of my life.

**The End.**

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